Review: Soulless by Gail Carriger

Title: Soulless
Author: Gail Carriger
Publisher: Orbit
Publishing Date: October 1st 2009
Pages: 384
Genre: Steampunk, Paranormal Romance, Mystery
Series: Parasol Protectorate #1
Source: Mass Paperback

Goodreads Summary:

Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.
Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.

With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

Review:

What a fun book. I absolutely loved it. The story is full of mystery, monsters, romance, humor, and even a little action.

The story takes place in London during the rule of Queen Victoria. With a little bit of spice added to the era, London is aware of all things supernatural. Werewolves, vampires, and ghosts oh my! To keep the supernatural in line there are agencies set up to watch the city. One more thing, Alexia Tarabotti is a preternatural, the supernatural cannot touch her.

On the night of a party that Alexia is attending she is attacked by an aware vampire who isn’t aware his strength and his teeth will not work on her. Of course this is not the crime, the crime is that he attacked at all. Now Alexia will join forces with a hot werewolf in the investigation.

Alexia, Lord Maccon, and many more unique characters fill this book. Alexia is an awesome heroine. She is smart, eccentric, and fearless. I have not enjoyed a heroine this much in a very long time. Lord Maccon is hot, sarcastic, and lovable. The banter between these too is possibly one of the most entertaining banters I have ever read. We add this to a flamboyant vampire, a clueless best friend, and a furry second in command and you get an award winning cast that will keep you laughing out loud from start to finish.

I have a very strong feeling this will be one of my favorite series.

Rating:

Follow Friday #15

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by

 Rachel of Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read! 

Q: Have you had a character that disappointed you? One that you fell in love with and then "broke up" with later on in either the series or a stand-alone book? Tell us about him or her.

A: I really don't have anyone come to mind. I did have a little tift with Edward in New Moon but we made up later.  I fight a little with Jace from Mortal Instruments at times too but we always get over it. I think for the most part I want to end friendships with the heroines more than break up with the heroes. Like Nora in Crescendo. We so did not get along in that book. 

What's your answer?

Review: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

Title: The Angel Experiment
Author: James Patterson
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Publishing Date: April 11th 2005
Pages: 423
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Series: Maximum Ride #
Source: Hardcover

Goodreads Summary:

Get ready for the maximum thrill ride from #1 New York Times bestselling author James Patterson.

After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "bird kids", who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose.

Review:

My daughter and my husband both read this series when it first started, I waited forever to read the first book. I have not read it and enjoyed it. The description doesn’t really explain too much about the books so I went into the story not knowing what to expect.

The first book in the series goes into a little detail on the kids and their past. The story has 6 main characters that are children aged from 6-14 and have been genetically altered with bird DNA, they have wings, they eat tons, and they are faster and stronger than the average child. These children have spent a majority of their life living in an experimental institution.

The story takes off after the kids were broken out of the institute by a scientist named Jeb, he has educated them, trained them, and taken care of them for a while. One day he disappears and shortly after the youngest of the “flock” is kidnapped. The majority of the book is from the point of view of 14 year old Max and is about her journey to find and rescue the missing 6 year old, Angel.

I really like Max, she is very sarcastic, witty, and strong. (emotionally, mentally, and physically) She will do anything for her flock and takes care of them as if they belonged to her. She has very a very strong emotional bond with the only family she has ever had. She will not give up on the chance to give these kids a normal life. The flock consists of 14 year old Fang who is basically the second in command, 14 year old Iggy, 11 year old Nudge, 8 year old Gasman, and 6 year old Angel. They are all awesome in their own way. They all have big attitudes, snarky comments, and odd behaviors.

The end of the book concluded for the most part but left me with some questions that encouraged me to read the next book. I will continue with the series and see where it leads me.

Rating: 

Review: Chomp by Carl Hiassen

Title: Chomp
Author: Carl Hiaasen
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Publishing Date: March 27th 2012
Pages: 304
Genre: Juvenile Fiction, Humorous, Adventure
Series: Stand Alone
Source: Hardcover

Goodreads Summary:

Wahoo Cray lives in a zoo. His father is an animal wrangler, so he's grown up with all manner of gators, snakes, parrots, rats, monkeys, snappers, and more in his backyard. The critters he can handle. His father is the unpredictable one.

When his dad takes a job with a reality TV show called "Expedition Survival!” Wahoo figures he'll have to do a bit of wrangling himself—to keep his dad from killing Derek Badger, the show's boneheaded star, before the shoot is over. But the job keeps getting more complicated. Derek Badger seems to actually believe his PR and insists on using wild animals for his stunts. And Wahoo's acquired a shadow named Tuna—a girl who's sporting a shiner courtesy of her old man and needs a place to hide out.

They've only been on location in the Everglades for a day before Derek gets bitten by a bat and goes missing in a storm. Search parties head out and promptly get lost themselves. And then Tuna's dad shows up with a gun . . .

It's anyone's guess who will actually survive "Expedition Survival". . .

Review:

This the first novel by Carl Hiassen that I have read and I am glad I picked it up. If all his novels are as funny and entertaining as this one, I have really been missing out.

This book had so much to love, the characters are quirky and lovable, the story line is new and refreshing, and the lines and mishaps are just hilarious. I can’t remember the last time a book made me laugh out loud so much.

The story is about a boy who lives on an animal ranch with his dad who is an animal wrangler. They have everything from gators to bobcats. Mr. Cray has been out of work due to an iguana incident and the family is behind on bills, so Wahoo (yes even the names are funny) signs his father up for a wrangler job for a reality television show. Sounds great except for the star of the show is a putz who fakes everything, thinks he knows everything, and complains about everything. Wahoo has to keep everything in check which is difficult to do with all the mishaps and misadventures that happen along the way.

The characters in this book are so zany and ridiculous that I can’t even begin to describe them, but it is the characters that make this book. I found it very difficult not to find something to love about each and everyone except for the villain, and he was just too easy to hate. It is the characters that make this book so entertaining, well the characters and the storyline.

The storyline is so strange and crazy that it doesn’t matter if it’s realistic, it’s still somehow believable. And if you can’t find it believable it doesn’t matter, it will have you smiling and laughing anyway. I am so excited to read more books by Carl Hiassen. I am so absolutely gleeful that I decided to give this book a try.

Rating:

Thoughts for Thursday #10 Book Hoarding

Thoughts for Thursday… Are you a book hoarder?

Once upon a time, when I didn’t read as many books as I do now, I liked to keep every book I bought. Well now I am just running out of space on my bookshelves and running out of room for new bookshelves. So I have been thinking about getting rid of some of my books and trying to come up with a way to make my mind believe it is okay to get rid of some of my books.  I have also started to go to the library more and of course my Kindle helps tremendously. I just need to slowly talk myself off the ledge and know its okay to depart from books. I am just having a hard time choosing which to get rid of. I rarely reread books and so really…. Why am I keeping them all?  So do you make the lifetime commitment to your books or do you stay single in your book relationship?