Joe by H.D. Gordon Review

Joe by H.D. Gordon
Published On: June 30, 2012
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Xpresso Book Tours
Rating: 

From the author of the Alexa Montgomery Saga, comes a book that will take you into the mind of a genuine psychopath, the lives of six ordinary people, and the world of a very special girl named Joe. Joe is seemingly an ordinary college student. She works, studies and reads. But in between these activities Joe has a gift that promises to add a dose of color to her life at any given moment. Joe sees things before they happen. Bad things, and the worst thing she has ever faced is just around the corner. Someone is planning a massacre at the college university that Joe attends, and the only person with a hope of stopping the psychopath is her. Oh, the beauty of foresight. More like a curse. Joe has four days to figure out the mystery, make plans to take down the psycho, and save the lives of people. People like you and me. Ordinary people.

    *Review copy provided by Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!*

     As I began reading Joe, I expected an indie thriller that I've heard millions of great things about. Isn't there always a book that you tend to not like as much as the rest of the general public and you always seem to wonder why? Is it a reading slump? Probably not. But it could be the general idea itself, or even its clichéness. (Too bad that's not a word either.)

"First, I should tell you I am no hero. At some point I feel you may come to the conclusion that I am, but this would be a misconception, and though I am not heroic, I am not a liar, either."

       Joe was your ordinary thriller story that could eventually end up being a low-paid movie that sadly wouldn't make it to the theatres because everyone's already seen something like it forty times. It's low-budget—it's a misconception read for me. I'm sitting here, simply thinking, "meh" since that's basically the only proper way to describe my enjoyment.

        The idea started off like something magical. It had the potential and the ability to captivate me and maybe, just maybe would I given it a 5 star rating. Maybe. Too bad we didn't get too much suspense and plot twists, because this book seemed like it needed to have those. Really, I'm sitting here wondering, "What was the main idea of the story?" although nothing really seemed to pop out at me.

         Joe is a girl, by the way. Haha, not to be sexist or anything, but I just expected this to be in some sort of killer's point of view who was named Joe, that's all. Nope—this was all about Joe and her life's craziness. You'll honestly end up feeling sorrow and guilty for the misconception you may have had on her character's personality in the beginning of the book. I know that I do, after all.

          As stories usually begin, we start off by meeting an ordinary character, who will soon grow up to be our main protagonist. Obviously, in this situation, this was Joe. But by the way, there were many points-of-views in this book, as I ended up finding out. And Joe was simply one of them—one of which took place in the life of an ordinary college schoolgirl who accidentally found out something she wasn't supposed to, which changed her life forever.

           How would you react if you came upon a mastermind plan of a psychopath? This is the junk that Joe got herself into by not minding her own business. Sucks for her, you may say. But as you add Joe's thoughts together with the psychopath's mind, this book did create an action-packed adventure, minus the real-captivation and realism.

          I guess that since everyone feels different things when reading, people tend to fall into two categories with minor thrillers: the bored-out-of-their-minds stage, or the omg-I-love-this stage, as things usually flow for most books. But this book only would have this, since there's the good and the negative reviews. Thankfully, I decided to stick with a 3 star rating, and I made it through, finishing the book quick and span.

           My honest-to-dear reaction was happiness with the ending. The characters did suck and I found that I didn't really feel anything with them whatsoever, but I did enjoy the plot and thankfully, I had better positive thoughts than bad.

 

     

      Joe can be your best friend or your enemy, that's all I'm going to say here. I, personally, enjoyed it less than most, but it's definitely recommendable when thinking about the aspect of indie, since those don't get much attention—but we all wish that they do. This didn't have a unique concept or set of characters, but I wasn't as bored I was planned on being, thankfully. Take the shot.

The Prince of Venice Beach, by Blake Nelson Review

The Prince of Venice Beach, by Blake Nelson

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

Rating: 3/5 stars

Publication: June 3, 2014, by Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Format: Hardcover Edition (borrowed)




Goodreads Summary: Robert "'Cali" Callahan is a teen runaway, living on the streets of Venice Beach, California. He's got a pretty sweet life: a treehouse to sleep in, a gang of surf bros, a regular basketball game...even a girl who's maybe-sorta interested in him.What he doesn't have is a plan. All that changes when a local cop refers Cali to a private investigator who is looking for a missing teenager. After all, Cali knows everyone in Venice. But the streets are filled with people who don't want to be found, and when he's hired to find the beautiful Reese Abernathy, who would do anything to stay hidden, Cali must decide where his loyalties truly lie.

Review:

         This book honestly was so much fun to read. It was the perfect summer read, and it was definitely the type to make you giggle and squeal and soak up the sun. *says in a cheesy matter* I absolutely regret reading this in the dawn of fall. -.-

         As you probably can recognize from the title, this book is about summer. Robert Callahan is a runaway, and he's homeless, living in sunny California. At the same time, this a mystery where "Cali" is referred to a private investigator where he'll be searching for a missing teenage girl. This is a summer where he'll be introduced to a whole new different perspective of life and living it.

         

          I KNOW. BUT THAT'S WHAT IT WAS AND BECAME. Surprisingly, this wasn't as good as I expected it to be. It was simply a "meh" read that left me hanging and upset. A mystery? Yes, but it wasn't one that left us in suspense mode and wondering what will happen next. The way it went was the way we followed, no feelings after.

          As this story unfolded into a bigger story from behind, we got to know more about the characters and their pasts. For once, we learned about some rough pasts, which rarely occurs in contemporary novels. Sure, some of the dark hot guys in paranormal books have some secrets behind their backs, but almost never in contemporaries. *thinks of stereotypes* This time around, Blake Nelson gave contemporary a little twist and made the story not exactly what it seemed to be like from the perspective of a reader before beginning.

         Cali wasn't your average protagonist. First of all, he was MALE! *squeals* Yay, for once! Add that to uniqueness. 

           He was totally adorable, I must say. *sighs and fans self* The way he portrayed the mystery and mixed it in with real life was total beauty. I mean, it felt real, and this can totally happen on the street any day, anytime, believe it or not.

            To describe this book in a quick few words, this was a literal quick read. It was fun, quick, but nothing special at the same time. I wasn't really captivated, and this was just a quick read that you can complete in a night without making a big deal over. The was all about a boy detective trying to make it in the big world and dealing with things that he's never dealt with ever before. Eh, go for it.

Review: Let the Sky Fall, by Shannon Messenger

Let the Sky Fall (Sky Fall #1), by Shannon Messenger

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal

Rating: 1.5/5 stars

Publication: December 3, 2013, by Simon Pulse

Format: Paperback Edition




Goodreads Summary: A broken past and a divided future can’t stop the electric connection of two teens in this “fast-paced, fantasy-romance” (VOYA) novel.

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And as the storm bears down on them, she starts to realize the greatest danger might not be the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.

Review:

DNF @ 90 pages.

"The tension between us evaporates. Whoever invented air conditioning should win the Nobel Prize. I bet they could bring peace to the Middle East if they gave everyone an AC unit and let them cool the freak down once in a while. I should e-mail the UN the suggestion."

  Have you ever read a book that you were anticipating so much (so freakin' much) to read but when you did, it totally sucked? *sighs* The amazeballs of fate...

    I didn't like this book. It definitely wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but it sucked pretty bad anyways. I adore fantasy, but this kind of concept mixed in with these characters didn't flow together too well. It was like when you think you're baking the perfect cake, but then it turns out burnt and not mixed well enough. You have that anticipation making you hungry to read it, but then you end up completely wrong anyways.

       

        But this book was pretty upsetting that it almost made it to an one star rating. And that's where the big guns come in. DNFs usually end up being a 1 star for most people, but I find that if there's a light somewhere during the parts that I did enjoy, it can boost up the rating utmost to a 2.5 star rating (if it suddenly got disastrous in the end).

         First negative: concept. A tornado? Yum. That's my type of read. I love those post-apocalyptic reads and when reading the summary, this did sound like one of those. Turns out, I stand corrected. I was wrong. This has to do with some form of angels called sylphs? Yeah, not my type of thing. I think I didn't like it because I've read too many books with angel-like creatures. Too many authors are deciding to deal with this subject too frequently. *walks to bookstore and finds ten angel books in ONE ROW*

        Second: stereotypes. I'm Canadian, and when reading this book, I wanted to literally barf. This author thinks so weirdly of Canadians. You think we say "eh" at the end of every sentence and say the word about like "a-boot?" Come on. *rolls eyes* It's kind of frustrating to read many stereotypes that deal with your culture, haha.

        I began this book with large expectations, like I mentioned above. When I got to page 30, I was loving it. From there on, I was bored out of my mind and didn't care about anything. The concept was really what kicked me out from wanting to read on from this book. But the storyline was very predictable and upsetting as well. I knew what was coming and in the end (90 pages) it was going at the rate that I wanted to close my eyes rather than reading it. That's the moment when I know that it's time to let it go. *NOT FROZEN'S LET IT GO* I normally never do that before 100 pages.

         I loved Vane. Shannon Messenger had the perfect idea of an awkward but cool teenage boy's POV. I really liked him and his quirkiness but my love for him didn't get me to keep on reading the book, sadly. But if you ask me about Audra, that's a different story. I hated her. I didn't relate to her at all and didn't feel nothing. She was just an overwhelmed brat who was afraid all the time. Badass? Nope. More like wimpy.

          "Our eyes met as he fell, and I chose to save him."

          

           So you can show your precious master that you're no troublemaker? Haha, you're funny.

           The romance was just under-developed, and I can barely get myself to even call this a book part of the "romance genre." Maybe there was a "passionate" kiss by the end, but it was just gross to see these two fall in love. NO.

            This book didn't interest me at all, and I had more of a hate relationship with it than a love one. More cat-fights than puppy-love.