E-reader Monday: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

"Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself."

Read the rest at Goodreads.

I am a sucker for anything supernatural and I am not ashamed of it. Honestly, I have never heard of Holly Black before and I stumbled upon this book while randomly browsing Goodreads one evening. The title was very eye catching and I thought to myself... Why not? I mean, I surely read a lot of really horrible vampire books so I could give this one a shot as well. 

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown has a great beginning. It is packed with action from the very start and that detail pretty much got me interested. Once the reader starts to get familiar with the setting of the book, things get even more compelling. It has some elements of the True Blood series such as the fact that the vampires are out in the open and every citizen knows they exist. However, they are not roaming freely and they are currently residing in Coldtowns. 

The main character is a teenage girl named Tana and she seems like a strong female character. I did like her (and her style) in the 80% of the book. But there are a few minor details (that end up as a crucial plot moments) I did not understand at all. Her switch from a typical girl who is put in a dangerous situation and  she is doing the best she can, into a deadly vampire killer baffles me. I am not complaining too much but it seems somehow rushed and hasty.

Of course, there is a love interest. In this particular case - two of them. Aiden is Tana's ex-boyfriend-soon-to-be-a-vampire and Gavriel is an ancient vampire with a variety of mental problems. All three of them embark on an unpredictable and risky road trip to a Coldtown.

I did like this book because it is somewhat different but once again, the writing looked hurried and there are a couple of characters who should have had a bigger role in this story. Overall, it is not bad and if you are into this genre - go read it. It is a page turner and easy to read so you will not be stuck with it for a long time.

3/5

Review: Revival by Stephen King

"In a small New England town, in the early 60s, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs Jacobs; the women and girls - including Jamie's mother and beloved sister - feel the same about Reverend Jacobs. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond, based on their fascination with simple experiments in electricity.

Then tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, the preacher curses God, mocking all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. In his mid-thirties, he is living a nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll. Addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate, he sees Jacobs again - a showman on stage, creating dazzling 'portraits in lightning' - and their meeting has profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings. Because for every cure there is a price . . ."

Read the rest at Goodreads.

The truth is I have read this book in December but I've been lazy with my reviews and I've completely neglected my blog. But better late than never, so here it goes.

I will just say it right away - I loved Revival! It may be because I absolutely adore Stephen King and sometimes cannot make a right assessment when it comes to his work or maybe because the book is badass - plain and simple. When someone mentions Stephen King, most of the people automatically imagine the horrors of his well-known works, specific scenes from the many movie adaptations (such as Pennywise the Clown standing in a backyard, being his creepy self), and they expect the gruesome and terrifying book filled with blood and carnage.

I don't think Mr. King has ever written that kind of a story but he did earn the reputation of being the master of horror, liters of blood included or not.

Revival is an excellent book which explores personal tragedies and the way they can transform you into a whole new person. It is also a story of friendship, even though this point is a bit murky since the relationship described here is not the best-friends-forever kind. Without going too deep into the spoilers, it is good to add that the narration is done by a character named James Morton and we follow him throughout his childhood, formative years, and adulthood. We get to know him, his secrets, his fears, his addictions, and connecting with him is pretty easy. On the other hand, we have Charles Jacobs who is a good man turned into a mad scientist who pops up into James' life a couple of times, creating some watershed moment for the narrator of this story. 

All things considered, I highly recommend this book. It might not have the exceptional narration of Dolores Clairborne, and it might not terrify you like The Shining, but Stephen King still got it and this one has a potential of becoming a classic one day.

5/5

Review: Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol

"In this bold and candid memoir, music legend Billy Idol shares his life story—from his childhood in England to his rise to fame during the height of the punk-pop revolution—revealing intimate details about the sex, drugs, and rock and roll that he is so fabulously famous for—all told in his own utterly indelible voice."

Read the rest at Goodreads.

As I previously mentioned here, Billy Idol was my first favorite musician. I was three years old when I discovered that my family owned a Billy Idol’s music video collection called Vital Idol. It became my top pick whenever we had electricity (growing up in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the civil war was tough, so yeah). Billy Idol wasn’t my crush; I actually wanted to be as cool as him when I grow up. Not to forget that he was my fashion inspiration, which terrified my mother back in the days.

I saw him live in Novi Sad, Serbia (July 2006) and that concert is still my number one. It holds a special place in my heart because that performance took me back to my childhood. The atmosphere was phenomenal – the dust, sweat and rock n roll. And of course, Mr. Idol blew us all away.

Now, let’s talk about Dancing With Myself. The prologue introduces us to the turning point of Billy’s life – the motorcycle accident. I was pleasantly surprised by the way this book was written. I was aware that Billy said he wrote it himself, without the help of ghostwriters, so I didn’t expect anything spectacular. Oh, I was so wrong. The language is gorgeous from the very first page. Later in the book we learn that Billy actually studied literature and I am guessing that is the reason he knows how to write properly. After the prologue, the book is divided into three big parts – London, New York and Los Angeles. Each part chronicles the time he spent living in those cities. London deals with his childhood, teenage years and the time he spent in Generation X. New York is about the beginning of his solo career and the severe drug use. And finally, in Los Angeles we learn about the birth of his children, finding himself, the recovery and so on. I have a liking for this way of organizing the chapters because it is different and pretty tidy.

I cannot emphasize enough how readable and fluid this autobiography is. It was a very enjoyable experience and I will probably re-read it again one day (hopefully, I will get a hardcover because it deserves a place oh my precious shelf). I expected that Billy Idol’s life was incredible and wild since he is a rock star, but some moments were unbelievable. All in all, I am glad that he is still here and that he is amazing. I would recommend Dancing With Myself to everyone - it is not a book for his fans only. 

5/5

Review: The Fever by Megan Abbott

"The Nash family is close-knit. Tom is a popular teacher, father of two teens: Eli, a hockey star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community.

As hysteria and contagion swell, a series of tightly held secrets emerges, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town's fragile idea of security."

Read the rest at Goodreads. 

First of all, I was wildly attracted to the cover of this book. It is amazing. But most of all, it goes so well with the title - The Fever. I read a little bit about the book online and it sparked my interest so of course, I picked it up.

It is a page turner since the very beginning because the whole story is very dynamic. The setting - small town by the contaminated lake which became a forbidden zone - is great. It adds more to the already eerie story about the unexplainable illness sweeping through a high school, mass hysteria and four friends caught in the very middle of everything.

But there are a few negative points I feel the need to address. I did not like the main character at all. Maybe Abbott decided not to develop her characters more, I am not sure. Deenie fell flat to me. The rest of the girls as well. Lise and Gabby are unmemorable. Skye had potential but then again - not really.

The ending disappointed me as well. Everything was going fine, the mystery, creepiness, strange lake,... And in the end, teenage jealousy was "the bad guy". I did understand the book deals with high school and a group of adolescents but I expected a gang of revengeful ghosts... at least.

All in all, the book is not perfect but it is not boring either. It is a quick read though so if you have a free afternoon, give it a go.

3/5

Preview: Books I am looking forward to

Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol

October 7th 2014

"In this bold and candid memoir, music legend Billy Idol shares his life story—from his childhood in England to his rise to fame during the height of the punk-pop revolution—revealing intimate details about the sex, drugs, and rock and roll that he is so fabulously famous for—all told in his own utterly indelible voice."

Read the rest at Goodreads.

Dancing With Myself is already available but I haven't gotten my hands on it... yet. It is the autobiography I was eagerly waiting for, since Billy Idol was my favorite singer when I was really young. He had a pretty interesting life but now we will be able to read more about it from the man himself. I bet this will be a page-turner, at least for me. 

 

Beautiful You: A Novel by Chuck Palahniuk

October 21st 2014

"Penny Harrigan is a low-level associate in a big Manhattan law firm with an apartment in Queens and no love life at all. So it comes as a great shock when she finds herself invited to dinner by one C. Linus Maxwell, aka "Climax-Well," a software mega-billionaire and lover of the most gorgeous and accomplished women on earth. After dining at Manhattan's most exclusive restaurant, he whisks Penny off to a hotel suite in Paris, where he proceeds, notebook in hand, to bring her to previously undreamed-of heights of orgasmic pleasure for days on end. What's not to like? This: Penny discovers that she is a test subject for the final development of a line of sex toys to be marketed in a nationwide chain of boutiques called Beautiful You. So potent and effective are these devices that women by the millions line up outside the stores on opening day and then lock themselves in their room with them and stop coming out. Except for batteries. Maxwell's plan for erotically enabled world domination must be stopped. But how?"

Read the rest at Goodreads.

I love Chuck Palahniuk's books. Plain and simple. He is weird, writes about insane things, and he is not afraid to tackle some touchy subjects. He has a different voice and I simply adore his way of writing. With that said, I am very excited to read Beautiful You. I though his two latest books (Damned and Doomed) were a bit... meh, but I have a good feeling about this one!

Revival by Stephen King

November 11th 2014

"In a small New England town, in the early 60s, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs Jacobs; the women and girls - including Jamie's mother and beloved sister - feel the same about Reverend Jacobs. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond, based on their fascination with simple experiments in electricity.

Then tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, the preacher curses God, mocking all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. In his mid-thirties, he is living a nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll. Addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate, he sees Jacobs again - a showman on stage, creating dazzling 'portraits in lightning' - and their meeting has profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings. Because for every cure there is a price . . ."

Read the rest at Goodreads.

It is a Stephen King's book. That fact alone is enough to keep me on toes. Mister King will always be my number one author, and frankly, he can't do wrong in my eyes. I am glad he publishes at least a book (or two) a year. Come on November! I need to read Revival!

Review: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty

This may sound very strange, but I love reading about death and anything death related. I couldn't contain my excitement when I saw this book. Seriously.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory is a memoir by Caitlin Doughty, and from what I had gathered, it is her first book. Caitlin may be familiar to some of you because she is the author of Ask a Mortician channel.

The book chronicles Caitlin's adventures as a complete newbie in the world of death and cremation. She meets a lot of interesting characters both living and dead and she is not afraid to tell it as it is. Personally, this book was pretty educational to me because the act of cremation is not practiced in the country I live in. It is not an entirely new concept for me, but I was familiar with the basics. Thanks to Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, I got the backstage pass to this curious occupation. I also learned a lot about different burial rituals from around the world. Caitlin is a clever and funny storyteller and this book is truly a page-turner.

You should read this book if... you love memoirs, you are passionate about weird and creepy things, you want to escape to a different world for a day (the very real land of the dead in this case) or you just want a break from all those fictional books which deal with the supernatural and experience something that is happening every single day.

5/5