The 9th Judgement

The 9th Judgement by James Patterson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I only chose to read this book bc I find that James Patterson books are a quick and easy read. They aren't terribly great and they aren't that terrible! If you've read a few of his books then you get used to his style and then majority of his books are predictable. The one thing i really enjoyed about this book was that Patterson chose a criminal character that was very brutal which isn't his style. When the murderer goes around killing women and babies it kind of makes your skin crawl. I liked that Patterson went out of his comfort zone with that criminal but the story did kind of fall flat around that particular character. Like I said it's an easy read and not horrible so it gives a reader a break.

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Hot Zone

The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story by Richard Preston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is by far my most favourite book. I read it at least once a year. It's based on true events about the Ebola break out that happened in Reston Virginia. My most favourite part of the book is when the virus amplifies to max capacity and causes a man to liquify on a small airplane. Preston has done his research and contacted the people involved to get their point of view on the situation that happened. This book sends chills down my spine when i read it because of the unsurety of the origins of the Ebola virus and it's sisters (Marburg, Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan and Ebola Reston). When the team is going through Kitum Cave and at the end of the book when Preston makes his journey to Africa to explore Kitum Cave for himself, you actually feel like you are right there. Observing first hand what he sees, touches, and feels. Some of the descriptions are too incredible to describe. Preston definitely hit a homerun with this book and it's a shame that there are not many novels around these days that can compare to such a story and the writing.

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Catching Fire

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had expectations for this book. I thought it was going to be a good follow up to the Hunger Games. I found the story almost exactly the same as the first book with a few minor tweaks. If you guessed that Catnip and Peeta were going to be called back into the Hunger Games/Quarter Quell, you were right. There were some interesting characters brought on to the scene, ie. Finnick, Chaff. The one thing that i was expecting was for Catnip to be dreaming of Gale and a possible life with him, but it was strange how she fell in love with Peeta. I'm not really sure what to expect with the third instalment, hope it's better then this one was.

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Fifty Shades Freed

Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Out of all the fifty shades books i liked this one the least. The story was very boring and when the author has a chance to really get things rev'd up with the Jack Hyde story line she only does it part way not allowing the chase to go on and the reader really get enticed by it. As in my review for the second book there was a lot of the same repetitive dialogue. From start to finish the whole series reminded me of a smutty story of the little mermaid. Ana being cast as Ariel and Grey cast as Prince Eric. Just as in the little mermaid Ariel is in awe when she gets her legs and is able to see the human side of life, Ana is able to experience the same awe since she is married to a husband that is a multimillionaire. Before Grey, Ana had to watch her spending and be thrifty with the cash she made at the hardware store, now money is a frivilous item and there is no worry about how it is spent or on what. My major gripe with this story is that the epilogue finishes on page 548, then there are 2 short chapters under the sub heading SHADES OF CHRISTIAN, (1. Fifty's First Christmas, and then 2. Meet Fifty Shades), that have the book ending on page 578. Now my math isn't great but my calculator's is wonderful and that means there is 30 pages of information that is really quite unnnecessary. Under Fifty's First Christmas there is the introduction of his first helicopter but JEEZ i really don't care what his first christmas was like. We already know that his childhood was pretty screwy. Then the second chapter as Meet Fifty Shades takes you to just before he has the interview with Ana and it's written from his perspective. This leads me to believe that either the author was unsure and wanted to add this to show people what his true thoughts were like but JEEZ she already conveyed that through the book even though it was written from Ana's perspective. I have to be honest and say that if the book was written from Grey's perspective I probably wouldn't have finished reading the first one let alone all three. That being said and done the best of the three would definitely be the first one, the rest just get more disappointing and lame as they go on.

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Fifty Shades Darker

Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After reading the first book of the series i had a very high expectation. While i found Ana highly irritating, there is something about Christian Grey that makes me want to keep reading more. The main thing that drove me crazy about this book was the back forth between Ana and Grey of 'I can't live without you/I love you and won't leave you/You're mine..........etc.' How many times do we as the reader have to hear the same lines over and over. I guess it makes it easier for the writer to write the book if the same lines are constantly repeated. The one thing i did enjoy was one of Grey's crazy ex sub coming back to get Ana with a venegeance. The author could have written this part with a little bit more zest but it was mediocre. It was a decent break from the excessive PDA between Ana and Grey. Hopefull the third is the best out of the Fifty Shades saga.

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Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was only ok. If i could i would only give it a 2.5 rating.

When i was reading the book the first 150 pages were only mediocre. I say this because the books characters are more of the type that you would find on a side show. Ie. the girl that can make fire, the invisible boy, the strong girl, the girl with 2 mouths, etc. Then factor into the mix the idea of time travel and that's where it gets a little batty. After the 150 pages i couldn't put the book down. It was like i was drawn to the bizarre ideology of the book. I wouldn't say it was the best book i ever read though as i did not enjoy it that much. For some people this book might be very appealing, such as those that truly enjoy reading science fiction pieces involving time travel and going through different 'loops' that take you to a place where the date never changes. The one thing i found strange was that the peculiar children were all able to keep track of their age, some would say they were 79, others 88, etc. If they were stuck in a time warp that stayed the same how would they know when a year had gone by? That was one of my hitches with the book. The best thing about the book was the photos embedded within the story of the various characters, some would be shown using their 'power' while others were simply old portraits. It was nice because it was actually able to let me put a name to a face. The pictures were fascinating and eerily interesting. I like that the author tied such things into the story. Alas, pictures could not save this story, nor could the character recognition. It was just a story that was far too out there for me. Nice try Ransom Riggs.

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Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was suggested to me by the person at the bookshop. It was strange because she said it was new and hot, but i had never heard of it before. While i found the character of Christian Grey quite intriguing, the character of Ana was very weak. When i started reading the book there was no mention of her age, so i thought that she was a young 18 year old woman at the most. When it was revealed that she was 21 I was shocked. Her language was very mature but the things she had and had not experienced were unbelieveable. Sure there some people that don't have sex before they are 21 but in this day and age i found it a little unreal.For the most part i enjoyed reading the book but when there was 100 pages left the story really fell to pieces. I found the last 100 pages very daunting and i was thinking, "Come on, ANA, like for real?" As the book continued it was like her character became more ridiculous as it went along. Then the ending even though it was kind of expected Ana acted like a total retard. She loves the guy but doesn't love the BDSM he participates in. After the belting experience not only would i be running for the hills but i would be screaming FUCK YOU. So sure for 414 pages the book was great the last 100 not so much. I am probably going to get the next one though since i want to know what Ana does. Is Grey really out of the picture? My guess is probably not, he just won't go to great lengths with the BDSM with Ana. We'll have to see though............

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