Review: Frenzy

Frenzy by Robert Liparulo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Funny how this one ended...a little like Angel, if you know what I mean. Oh, but the best part - the trip to the set of Predator. AWESOME. :D



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Review: Mermaids and the Vampires Who Love Them

Mermaids and the Vampires Who Love Them by Brittanie Charmintine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



One of Wattpad's Greatest Hits, and for good reason - the long title pretty much sums up the whole point of the book, and yet it doesn't. Sure, it has a few speed bumps in the beginning, with its reliance on cliches, but then the humor and actual story kick in and help make this one a worthwhile read. (And, of course, it's set in an alternate Bay Area like some of my own stories, so that automatically makes things better.) :D



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Review: Second Chance

Second Chance by J L Pawley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



More and more crazy Orphan Ride/Max Black adventures to be had in this second story. The sad thing is, this is the last full-length novel in the series to be available on Wattpad - which is gonna be a problem unless I suddenly develop the ability to afford a Kindle, or various online purchases. (This is why I need to get my own story published, even though Pawley's suggested in her notes and journals on Wattpad that it's not a high-paying job if you're in the indie-book business like she is.) But hey, as long as she continues to publish the novellas, I'll at least be able to stay in the world of the Icari a little longer, which is cool, of course. :D

So, excellently done for this one - and for the love of God, literary agents of the world, take notice of this story already! This is part of the Holy Trifecta of Woefully Underrated Unpublished Wattpad Stories, alongside the Night Shift Trilogy and Chameleons. I might need to become a literary agent myself, if only to rectify the mistakes the publishing industry's been making by overlooking these stories.



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Review: Dorothy Must Die: Stories

Dorothy Must Die: Stories by Danielle Paige

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Good thing I read this before The Wicked Will Rise - now I'm going in knowing that Dorothy's not even the main villain, that there's a Bigger Bad who's just as shocking. Now I'm even tempted to re-read Book 1 just to see how much these stories have changed my perception of the Fractured Fairytale that is Ms. Paige's messed up dystopian Land of Oz.



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Review: Drums of Autumn

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



It does get pretty confusing sometimes in this story, but then there's nothing like some good old-fashioned history-bending. Although it's not as good as Sleepy Hollow in that regard for me, it's still a pretty enjoyable story - especially when it's being told in Claire's POV.



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Two Self-Aware Zombies - Can They Love?

A recent episode of the amazing little horror-comedy-mystery-drama iZombie had its main character, self-aware zombie Liv, in an outfit shockingly reminiscent of that of R from Warm Bodies. With that in mind, I sought R and Liv crossover fanart, and found a few. Then I was sufficiently inspired to make one of my own.

Full disclosure - I don't actually ship R and Liv. But you gotta admit, they're too damn adorable together. :D

Next up - Demyx and Chappie sharing page space. Why? Why not?

Deadpool Syndrome: Now Who Are These Two?

I've been sitting on this drawing for a while, waiting for the opportune moment to unveil it. Now that Chapter 22 of Deadpool Syndrome has used those lines in the caption, the opportune moment has come. The identities of the two adorkable types in this drawing, however, are known only to myself and Angel for now. I promise, though - they will be revealed to all by the end of DS1.

Have fun with the guesswork, mes amis! :D

Review: Death Warmed Over

Death Warmed Over by Kevin J. Anderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I think I may have tried this one before and couldn't get into it at first. But this time, I enjoyed it a lot more. It's no Dresden Files, but as far as urban fantasy PI stories go, this one's a pretty solid, fast, enjoyable read.



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Review: Unleashed

Unleashed by Sophie Jordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I'm guessing this'll be the end of the series here? Well, it wasn't quite as interesting as the first book, and that was largely because most of the action was either romantic or political - with the latter largely being relegated to the brief interludes between chapters. But hey, it didn't completely lose its way, so I guess that's a good thing. :)



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Review: The Patriot Threat

The Patriot Threat by Steve Berry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The one thing I didn't like about this book was that there was so little involvement from Cotton Malone. But it was a very good story all the same, mostly because just as The Lincoln Myth was The Da Vinci Code for Mormons, this was The Da Vinci Code for federal taxes. Oh, and of course the story of Kim Yong Jin and his daughter Hana - they weren't the nicest of people, but their backstories were surprisingly sympathetic, especially Hana's.

So, while this one doesn't top The Lincoln Myth, it's still better than The Columbus Affair and The King's Deception by light-years, and that's all that matters.



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Review: Red Queen

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Definitely, this is one of the most-hyped books of the year so far. Having read it, I've decided that...yes, it does in fact deserve the hype.

Of all the Hunger Games-style dystopians out there (and this is when my iPod decides to start playing "The Hanging Tree," natch), this one comes closest to matching THG's bizarre blend of post-apocalyptic poverty and technology. It just has a fantasy twist to go with it and make it even better. I'm thinking the science-fantasy dystopian (also well-embodied by Black City, Lunar Chronicles, Dorothy Must Die, and Snow Like Ashes) might be the subgenre we should all be keeping an eye on. As for keeping eyes on things, Mare is way up there with Katniss, Hermione, and Six on the list of Best YA Heroines EVER.

Things we need right now:

* The movie of this book now so she can even join the BAMF Girls' Club! (I vote for Maisie Williams to play Mare.) :)
* The second book.
* Not necessarily in that order, of course.



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Review: The Story of Owen

The Story of Owen by E.K. Johnston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Alternate history is always cool. Alternate history in the modern day is even better, especially since now this dragon-infested world even has alternate pop culture. My one and only gripe - if dragons are really so attracted to carbon and fossil fuels that they'll carry away cars, why the hell are gas engines still the norm? Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, and you'd think they'd have developed efficient electric cars that much faster in this 'verse.

Oh well. Aside from that, Siobhan is a great bard-in-training, and her humorous use of unreliable narration (usually signaled by some variation on "that's what happened - but not really") make this a very worthwhile read. :D



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Happy Fiolex

A favorite scene of mine from Blue Monday is when Alex and Fionna share a dream and spend a little time resting on his bed (at which point Fionna says, "I'm just waiting for someone to come in and think we're doing it.") XD So, here's a sketch of that scene for your viewing pleasure!

This was quite a cute one, and I really loved drawing it, for pretty obvious reasons. Fiolex forever, peoples! :D

Review: Snow Like Ashes

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



One of the better fantasy dystopians I've read since Black City and/or the Lunar Chronicles, that's for sure. The best part of this world was the way there were four kingdoms based on each season. So, we get good guys who all look like Jack Frost - not a bad thing, of course - and with the villain being the King of Spring, I'm reminded of a cross between Alice in Wonderland's Red Queen and Kingdom Hearts' Marluxia. And speaking of Kingdom Hearts, Meira may be more of a Vexen, but she wields an Axel-like weapon. I wonder if Ms. Raasch ever played that game...

Needless to say, I already can't wait for the sequel. :D



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Review: Bloom

Bloom by A.P. Kensey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I was pretty sad when Kensey pulled this story from Wattpad for a while. But now it's back, and she's already started working on a fourth book as well. :D So I was finally able to finish it, and while it's not the best Wattpad book I've found, it's still good enough that it really ought to be in major bookstores everywhere.



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Review: Shadow Scale

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



It's a little too bad this is gonna be the end of the Seraphina series...but at least Hartman says she's not quite done with this world just yet. :)



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Review: Zom-B Bride

Zom-B Bride by Darren Shan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Once again, we get total grossgustingness a la Shan. But my God, those babies...they're too creepy for words. *shudders* At least we got a great ending for this one. Can't wait for Fugitive!



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Review: Kill Me Softly

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



A real surprise for me - this one managed to somehow hybridize both my favorite fairytale shows, Once Upon A Time and Grimm. It has the traditional characters under different names of the former, and the dark energy of the latter. And the best part is that its protagonist is one whom I haven't seen remixed this way before - Sleeping Beauty. It's still not the best Sleeping Beauty reboot I've seen - that honor continues to belong to Maleficent - but it's damn good stuff all the same. I think I might be a mixture of Freddie and Blue, because I love Mira to death for some reason, but I probably wouldn't be able to feed on her emotions, a la the White Court vampires, until she dies.

Now to read Tear You Apart...



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More Penny Tee Modeling - Evan and Harris

Jay isn't the only Dark Ice Penny Tee model now - Evan and Harris have joined his ranks in quite humorous fashion! :D

Here's one...

...and two.

Evan's slogan went over pretty well with my friends, largely because it was lifted from this here funny Jack Frost GIF:

Also a good catchphrase for Frozen anti-fans.

As for Harris, his slogan's pretty self-explanatory. :)

I think I'll be showing Alex, Gabe, and Fionna as Penny Tee models next! :D