Book Review: Tricky Twenty-Two by Janet Evanovich

* This post contains spoilers. *

Tricky Twenty-Two (Stephanie Plum #22)

Janet Evanovich

Fiction - Mystery

305 Pages

     So here we are again, Trenton, New Jersey. Stephanie and Morelli have broken up. Again. Stephanie is chasing down a fugitive. Again. Stephanie gets a car blown up. Twice. Predictable? Absolutely. 

     So in this book, Stephanie is looking for FTA Ken Globovic, a college student at Kiltman who was arrested for beating the dean of students with a baseball bat. As it turns out, that didn't really happen. Professor Pooka, a psychologically disturbed, "power wielding," biology professor is making "Black Plague infected" fireworks to shoot off over the students at Homecoming. (Or something like that.) When people start getting too curious, they're shot. Of course, being a Stephanie Plum novel, Stephanie is kidnapped by the psychotic Professor Pooka. She is supposedly injected with the plague and is supposedly providing blood for the fleas that are "carrying" the plague.
     The story isn't really action packed, it's an easy read, and as I said many times before, completely predictable. The only thing that was a great twist in this book was that Stephanie's mom, who is completely against Stephanie being a bounty hunter, takes Pooka down. She's beating the crap out of him for kidnapping Stephanie, for supposedly giving her the plague, and just because of the adrenaline. Other than that, it was once again, a three from me. Joe did ask Stephanie to marry him at the end, but I didn't find it sincere, so I'm on hold for Turbo Twenty-Three on my E-Library to see what's actually going to happen. 

Book Review: Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich

Top Secret Twenty-One (Stephanie Plum #21)

Janet Evanovich

Fiction - Mystery

354 Pages

     I'm not even going to bother with explaining the characters and their roles in this book because frankly, after twenty-one books, you already know them. To say the least, I'm ready for this series to be done. Stephanie just needs to marry Joe, like we all know she's going to, and quit her bounty hunting job. I'm not saying that she can't be a married woman and still work, but I don't think that's her personality. She's already emotional, always looking over her shoulder and worrying about Morelli, all of that will just multiply tenfold when she's actually "tied down."

     I did enjoy the first few books of this series, but honestly, after the first...I don't know, five? It gets so repetitive, there's no point in reading the book because you know that she's going to catch the major FTA and at least thee smaller FTA's. The only thing that seems to be progressing at all is Stephanie and Joe's relationship. Though they're on again/off again, you always know that they're going to get back together and they're going to eventually get married.

     I gave this book three stars. It's an easy read, good for when you're in a reading rut and need something quick, but the series is no longer on my "must read as soon as they're released" list.

Finished Reading Friday

    I'm starting something new today. Every Friday, I'm going to share with you the books that I've finished this week. A short and sweet explanation of my feelings, and give you a link to grab it for yourself!

    This week, I've finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling and Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich.

    I liked this book, but didn't love it. I really didn't like Viktor Krum, honestly, and I don't know how Hermione fell for him. Fleur Delacour wasn't to great either. She reminds me of the popular girls in high school who don't associate with you unless you're a cheerleader or a jock. Are veelas the cheerleaders of the magical world?

     The storyline felt a little rambunctious. Harry, Hermione and, after Harry and he were done fighting, Ron, were constantly in the library. You can't exactly write a book about three kids sitting in the library reading for a whole school year. 

     The last few chapters, where Harry and Cedric are transported to the graveyard where Volemort is, was honestly the most interesting part of the book. Yes, the events of the Triwizard Tournament were good, but I felt they were lacking detail. The only event that was pretty detailed was the second one. 

     Once again, Stephanie is chasing down a bad guy, gets her car(s) blown up, gets her apartment blown up, and goes between Morelli and Ranger. I don't know why I'm still reading these, other than I want to know who she marries. The thirty-third book just came out, so I'm reading number twenty-two right now.

     I think this will be a more frequent post here on the blog, given that I finish at least one book a week. I'll be back next Friday with at least one finished book.

FO Friday

So, it's been some time since I've done an FO Friday post. These last few months, I've mainly finished orders that are for babies. Either way, I've finished some things. These are September to November Time Frame.

September

Azel Pullover by the Velvet Acorn

October

Azel Pullover by the Velvet Acorn 

November

 ( I also finished an Exploration Station by Stephen West for Grace Mae over at One Girl, One Life, One God, but she's going to have to send me photos of that.)

     So, as you can see, I'm a knitting fiend lately. I've also taken on the crazypants idea that I can knit an Owl Cardigan by Mari Chiba in just 13 days for NaKniSweMo. (I just cast on today, in case you were wondering.) Which means that I have to knit 7,035 stitches per day (or 7.69%) to get it done by November 30.

Book Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

* This post contains spoilers. *

* To see a review for each book in the series, go here. *

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #1)

Ransom Riggs

Fantasy - Supernatural

352 Pages

(Read 10/31/2016)

     First of all, let me just say, I absolutely despise the new cover art on this novel. I do believe that the cover art on the original book is what drew me in more than anything. That, and now it just does not go with the rest of the series' covers. Who wants to have a bright, colorful book when the rest of the series is black and white. Just my opinion, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

     So I've technically been reading this since June... It took a while to get into, and I mean a while. Jacob is a peculiar child, well teenage boy, and is put into counseling and is considered "psychologically unhealthy" after his grandfather, Abraham, dies and begins having nightmares of the things that his grandfather told him stories about. He is raised hearing stories of his grandfather's backstory, escaping from Germany during the war because he was Jewish, then fighting in the war (but not the war), and about growing up with his peculiar friends at the "orphanage." Jacob learns all about the levitating girl, the boy with the bees, the invisible boy, and the strongarm girl, each with their own photo. Among others, he also learns about the monsters. The monsters (later explained by Miss Peregrine) are former ymbrynes (ymbryni?) who thought that they could use the "loop" to relinquish aging for good. The whole thing was actually led by Miss Peregrine's own brothers. When they stepped through the loop, though, they were taken so far back in aging that it is believed that they were formed into their "before-the-soul" selves called hollowghasts. The hollowghasts have to feed on peculiars to thrive. They can feed on common people, but the peculiars are what give them strength. 

     Jacob gets a letter addressed to him from his grandfather after he dies that was found among Abraham's things. When Jacob reads the letter, he convinces his parents and psychiatrist to go on a trip to this Island on the coast of Wales to "prove to himself that none of it was true." In reality, he is going to find whatever his grandfather wanted him to find. He finds the old home in ruin and rummages through the remnants, not finding anything.

     So he finds the loop and meets all of the peculiar children who are old, like 80+ old, and Miss Peregrine, the headmistress. Miss Peregrine actually knows that Jacob is peculiar. He, like his grandfather before him, can see the hollowghasts. Later on when a group of wights kidnap Miss Peregrine, Miss Avocet and other ymbrynes, Jacob, Emma, Hugh, Bronwyn, Horace, and other Peculiars are going on a rescue mission. They manage to save Miss Peregrine, but when they get back to the loop, everything is wrong. Miss Peregrine can't revert back to her human self and the loop hasn't reset. This is where the book drops off and leads into the next book. 

     Overall, this book gets a three from me, it wasn't easy to get in to and I'm still not 100% sure about the series. What were your thoughts? 

Series Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

* This post contains spoilers. *

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #1)

Ransom Riggs

Fantasy - Supernatural

352 Pages

(Read 10/31/2016)

     First of all, let me just say, I absolutely despise the new cover art on this novel. I do believe that the cover art on the original book is what drew me in more than anything. That, and now it just does not go with the rest of the series' covers. Who wants to have a bright, colorful book when the rest of the series is black and white. Just my opinion, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

     So I've technically been reading this since June... It took a while to get into, and I mean a while. Jacob is a peculiar child, well teenage boy, and is put into counseling and is considered "psychologically unhealthy" after his grandfather, Abraham, dies and begins having nightmares of the things that his grandfather told him stories about. He is raised hearing stories of his grandfather's backstory, escaping from Germany during the war because he was Jewish, then fighting in the war (but not the war), and about growing up with his peculiar friends at the "orphanage." Jacob learns all about the levitating girl, the boy with the bees, the invisible boy, and the strongarm girl, each with their own photo. Among others, he also learns about the monsters. The monsters (later explained by Miss Peregrine) are former ymbrynes (ymbryni?) who thought that they could use the "loop" to relinquish aging for good. The whole thing was actually led by Miss Peregrine's own brothers. When they stepped through the loop, though, they were taken so far back in aging that it is believed that they were formed into their "before-the-soul" selves called hollowghasts. The hollowghasts have to feed on peculiars to thrive. They can feed on common people, but the peculiars are what give them strength. 

     Jacob gets a letter addressed to him from his grandfather after he dies that was found among Abraham's things. When Jacob reads the letter, he convinces his parents and psychiatrist to go on a trip to this Island on the coast of Wales to "prove to himself that none of it was true." In reality, he is going to find whatever his grandfather wanted him to find. He finds the old home in ruin and rummages through the remnants, not finding anything.

     So he finds the loop and meets all of the peculiar children who are old, like 80+ old, and Miss Peregrine, the headmistress. Miss Peregrine actually knows that Jacob is peculiar. He, like his grandfather before him, can see the hollowghasts. Later on when a group of wights kidnap Miss Peregrine, Miss Avocet and other ymbrynes, Jacob, Emma, Hugh, Bronwyn, Horace, and other Peculiars are going on a rescue mission. They manage to save Miss Peregrine, but when they get back to the loop, stuff is wrong. Miss Peregrine can't revert back to her human self and the loop hasn't reset. This is where the book drops off and leads into the next book. 

     Overall, this book gets a three from me, it wasn't easy to get in to and I'm still not 100% sure about the series. What are your thoughts? 

Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #2)

Ransom Riggs

Fantasy - Supernatural

428 Pages

Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #3)

Ransom Riggs

Fantasy - Supernatural

464 Pages