Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Review: Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (October 1, 2013)
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages (Hardcover): 320
Series: The Legion (Book 1)
Source: ARC from Publisher Rep
ISBN-13: 9780316210171
Genre: Supernatural/Suspense/Thriller
Author: Website | Twitter | Blog

When Kennedy Waters finds her mother dead, her world begins to unravel. She doesn’t know that paranormal forces in a much darker world are the ones pulling the strings. Not until identical twins Jared and Lukas Lockhart break into Kennedy’s room and destroy a dangerous spirit sent to kill her. The brothers reveal that her mother was part of an ancient secret society responsible for protecting the world from a vengeful demon — a society whose five members were all murdered on the same night.

Now Kennedy has to take her mother’s place in the Legion if she wants to uncover the truth and stay alive. Along with new Legion members Priest and Alara, the teens race to find the only weapon that might be able to destroy the demon — battling the deadly spirits he controls every step of the way.

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This is a book to devour. Kami Garcia has brought together a fantastic combination of great proportions. In a world that involves secret societies and hidden clues we find the Legion. The Legion exists just as surely and soundly as the all the other hidden societies in the world and it was founded shortly after the appearance of the Illuminati in a hope to defeat the heretics.

But Kennedy Waters doesn't know any of this. All she knows is that she has lost her mom and she is about to be shipped off to boarding school. She is alone and her life is broken...until she wakes up to Lukas and Jared in her bedroom, shooting a dead girl.

All that serves to do is drudge up more questions and confuse Kennedy, breaking her life into that many more pieces. This touches on one of the tiny problems with this book and it was that Kennedy just absorbed the information about ghosts and demons and was ready to run off with the twins. She didn't hit a level of appropriate denial or ask enough questions that would indicate her disbelief, she just seemed to take at face value. In the midst of trauma and confusion, it shouldn't be that easy.

As a whole, Kennedy was a likable character and each character was unique themselves. They didn't fit into any specific and stereotypical mold and that makes them brilliant. Kennedy has her talents but she makes mistakes that nearly cost them their lives, the little punk genius is well rounded and witty, the already-present-in-the-group girl is multi-faceted with her emotions, and the twins have a past and have been broken.

This makes their Da Vinci Code-like adventure even more exciting when you find out that the Legion is really fighting ghosties and demons. It it like taking two of my most favorite fandoms and mashing them together, this book was made for me. It is an easy read so it isn't too complex and that makes it a breeze to devour.

Just be prepared that much in the same tone as Cassandra Clare's writing, the moment you think you have something figured out, Kami Garcia is going to throw you a twist that will leave you in agony for the next book.

Rating out of 5:

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Peek-a-Boo! Reviews for you!

Hey everyone!

I hope at least that some of you are still here. I have had a recent stroke of something like genius but not really. I have started blogging again although it is not here. I have left single topic blogs for good and moved to geek genre blogging so I can do all things books, games, nerdiness, and life.

With that said, I have also picked up a second job working at my local bookstore, Joseph-Beth Booksellers. This is a wonderful place to work in addition to the library, so I get to huggle books all day.

But working with the bookstore I get access to ARCs a lot more often than I did as a blogger even so I am still getting some great access to great books early. As a way to say thank you to the reps who provide these, as part of our job we send in our feedback on these books; so I am writing up these reviews for work and posting them on Goodreads, I talked to some girlies of mine and came to the conclusion I will be posting these reviews here too!

I'm not coming back as a full-time book blogger, but if the reviews are written, I want to share them with the people who have similar tastes. If you think you are the slightest bit geeky (or a Whovian) you can follow that blog (The Fandomonium) and catch up on the geek world and geek reads will be featured there too!

Stay tuned for the latest review I wrote up on Kami Garcia's new release due in October, Unbreakable.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Proud & Heartfelt Goodbyes

It is with the greatest honor and regret that I find myself writing this post today. I have thought long and hard about this decision before deciding to act upon it. This is news to pretty much everyone except me but I have decided to give up book blogging for the moment.

I really sat down and reflected on why I started this blog and what I was wanting to get from it.

When I first started this blog it was because I was finding myself lost in book blog world and I wanted a way to be a part of the book community and surround myself with wonderful books and a place to talk about them. It wasn't for the free books or the "fame" it was for sheer self enjoyment. To be honest, I was also having a difficult time filling all my free time that I had found myself with and I missed blogging.

So the place I find myself in now is quite different then the place I was a little over a year ago. I work in the library now. Contrary to popular thought, this is actually detrimental to my book blogging because I work and talk books everyday and I love it, that means that blogging doesn't fulfill that for me anymore, it isn't something I turn to now. I am also overwhelmed with amazing new books of all genres and sometimes it exhausts my brain.

I also have a healthy balance of activity in my life now that includes work, friends, and getting to know a little bit more about myself. I am also trying very hard for a promotion at work on top of getting into new activities that fuel my geek life.

This has been a stellar year albeit it has been full of ups and downs. I don't intend to give up books (Such a thought is blasphemous!) and in fact I don't even intend to give up reviewing but I don't have the time to dedicate the other research for other posts and interesting information. I doubt this is a permanent step for me, I really love blogging but for now lay it to rest.

I would really love to keep in touch with every one of you; I am turning Goodreads into my source of reviews and connections. If you'd like, I would love to have you on my friends list there, so look me up! I'm also going to be a blog reader, even if I am the silent type.

Don't stop believing in the pixies :)

Love and hugs,
Leila

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Summer Spontaneity

What happens when you spontaneously go pick up your baby sister to come visit you for a week halfway across the state? Your blog doesn't get any love. But at least you had fun?! RIGHT!?! Haha, I just wanted to touch base and say that I appreciate your readership and I appreciate you for sticking by me when I know the regularity of posts isn't quite as steady or consistent as I would really like for it to be, but I am certainly trying to catch up!

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer (and Winter for my friends in Australia in their snow boots)!