Sunday, September 20, 2015

The Girl in the Spider's Web- David Lagercrantz

 
Sigh.. I'm being SO generous with 2 stars.
 
What a disappointment. I didn't expect much because come on, these things never go well, but I was so hopeful. I LOVE Lisbeth Salander and was excited to hear more about what she's been up to and have her use her awesome skills for justice. She MAKES these books and sadly, she was hardly in this book. What?! Yes, it's absolutely crazy. The Millennium series is one of my all time favorites. I know that it was a lot to live up to, but Lagercrantz didn't even come close.
 
First, I want to start off saying that this will definitely be a spin-off trilogy, not just one book. It has to be, because more than half of this book, was just character introductions and set up for the future. I cannot tell you how much I was bored with all the extreme character information. I'm not kidding. You get all this background and irrelevant information about characters that even die. I don't care. All I wanted was to be reading about Lisbeth and her awesomeness. I mean, I would even settle for Blomkvist too. He just seemed so different and not the same person from the previous books. There is no one more important than Lisbeth. The cover even says, "A Lisbeth Salander novel." Yet, she wasn't hardly anywhere to be found.
 
Back to the plot. It was just so boring to me. I'm a third of the way through this book and nothing has really happened. I kept thinking that the ending would just get better, right? Something amazing would happen to make me forgive 3/4's of this book. Nope. Lame and really not all that interesting. Honestly, I don't even know what the author was trying to do with this book.
The writing is just not there. Lagercrantz isn't even on the same plane as Larsson's books. I would not be surprised if he didn't even read the first three books. I mean, I'm sure he did but it doesn't seem like it. 
 
It was so much set up that it was too much. I will say that maybe a whole chapter could be Lisbeth's part in this book. This author breaks up a chapter and has a lot of different characters in them. There was too much hacker lingo. Don't get me wrong, it's a huge part of most of this book I'm not a hacker. So all this extreme amount of information was just overkill. I felt my eyes glazing over and just zoning out. I'm pretty sure this book was about AI intelligence and it got away. Someone has it and will take over the world.. blah blah blah. Is that all that authors think of this day and age? AI? Larsson had deep, meaningful plots and that's what I loved about him. He could write a 2,000 page book and I wouldn't want to put it down. I mean, some of his previous books were pretty long and I devoured them. I had to force myself to finish this book.  Oh yeah, this is also about a boy that is a savant. He was more of a main character than Lisbeth. Okay, okay, you get my point. I'll stop saying it already.
 
Another thing that I hated. Wasp being defined by Marvel. ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME?!?! I always figured it to the fact that she was small and loved to take her time and then strike fast. She would strike so fast that you wouldn't even know it until it was too late. I mean, like a wasp, ya know?! Now, all this Marvel stuff was just annoying. Not everything in this world has to be about Marvel.
 
Overall, this was just not a good book. Even if I didn't know anything about the previous books, it would still be bad. It was just so slow and boring. The author took so many liberties with changing things that it doesn't even seem like it's connected to the series. I will not be reading the next one..
 
 
 
 
 
 

Why Not Me? @MindyKaling

 
 
 
Warning: I have a slight obsession with MK. I will do my best to not be too biased.
 
I read her first book and I believe that is when I started to follow Mindy Kaling. I then watched the first episode of The Mindy Project and I was in love. This book was fantastic. It was also my first audiobook! I usually cannot stand to use audiobooks because I can't concentrate enough to just listen. I absolutely had to listen to this book because I knew that Mindy reading it would just add something else to this book. Oh boy, was I right. Her reading this really put this book over the top. I couldn't stop. It followed me around everywhere. I would play it when I was washing dishes, doing the laundry and even hooked it up to my Bluetooth for my showers. It was like I was living in a world where Mindy's humor and stories followed me around everywhere for two days.  I am so glad that I listened to the audiobook, instead of reading the book. So thank you Mindy, for breaking my audiobook virginity. I didn't think it would ever happen!
 
 
This book was much better for me than her last. Don't get me wrong, her last book was good but this one is great. I love how open she is about her work and her life. She can be real and then throw in a joke like it's not a second thought. It's one of the reasons I love, The Mindy Project, so much. She knows how to add all these lines but make it flow, like it's so natural. I can't tell you the number of times that she made me laugh. Really, I had such a hard time not waking my husband up from my laughter. I like how she doesn't hold back and tells you what she really thinks. It's like she has no filter when it comes to certain things. I think one of my favorite chapters was her explaining her relationship with BJ. If you are looking for a great and fun read, this is for you. If you are just obsessed with Mindy, this is definitely for you.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Blog Tour & Giveaway ~ Queen of Shadows by @Sarah_J_Maas @RockstarBookTours



I am so excited that QUEEN OF SHADOWS by Sarah J. Maas releases today and that I get to share the news, along with an awesome giveaway!

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful series by Sarah J. Maas, be sure to check out all the details below.


This blitz also includes a giveaway for a set of the first 3 books in the series (in paperback format). US only. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

About The book:

Title: QUEEN OF SHADOWS
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Pub. Date: September 1, 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Pages: 656

Sarah J. Maas's New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series reaches new heights in this sweeping fourth volume.

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past . . .

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return.

Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.





Read Chapters 1-5 of QUEEN OF SHADOWS HERE!



Sarah J. Maas is the author of the New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling Throne of Glass series–Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, and Heir of Fire, and the series’ prequel, The Assassin’s Blade–as well as the New York Times and USA Today bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses. She wrote the first incarnation of the Throne of Glass series when she was just sixteen, and it has now sold in twenty-three languages. Queen of Shadows, the fourth book in the Throne of Glass series, will release worldwide on September 1st, 2015.
A New York native, Sarah currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and dog. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Hamilton College in 2008 with a degree in Creative Writing and a minor in Religious Studies. 

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Pinterest | Instagram| Goodreads


Giveaway Details:
1 winner will receive the first 3 books (in paperback) in the THRONE OF GLASS Series. US Only.
Ends on September 11th at Midnight EST!

a Rafflecopter giveaway