Hide & Chic

 

My Kindle Reviews will consist of:

Kindle Lending Library

Kindle Unlimited

Kindle First

Freebies

Death Warmed Over

Book source ~ ARC. 

 My review is vountary and honest.

Death Warmed Over

Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I., #1

Kevin J. Anderson

28 August 2012

Paranormal | Mystery

309 Pages

Monster Porn Monday

My monthly review of that sub-sub-sub genre of erotica ~ monster porn. 

I read them so you don't have to.

Erotica ~ Mature 18+

Showcase Saturday

Title ~ Sin

Author ~ Sharron Riddle

Publisher ~ Curiosity Quills

Published ~ 13 January 2014

Genre ~ YA/Fantasy

Pages ~ 274

My Rating ~ 3 bites out of 5

Sin Blackmore is sixteen and having a hard time getting a handle on her temper. Her dad decides she needs to get some psychiatric help so Sin is heading to be locked up in the nuthouse. However, on the way there they encounter some zombies. While her dad is distracted her mom races off with the car and takes Sin to the airport to get her on a plane to Chicago. Sin needs to get to her great-aunts since they are the only ones who can help her with her problem. Because Sin isn’t human and her world is about to be turned upside down.

The plot for this story is inventive, exciting and excellent. The doors between Faerie and the human world are being breached and the Hellhounds have been stolen. All hell is breaking loose, humans are becoming aware that there are other things than themselves out there and Sin is at the middle of it all though she has no idea why. The characters are wonderful, varied and detailed. This story would have easily gotten a 5 out of me if it weren’t for the execution. While the writing itself is pretty good, I think I got whiplash from the mood changes. The characters must be bipolar because their constantly switching moods, even in the same paragraph, were lightning fast and unpredictable. It was massively irritating to have no transition from one mood to the next. I love, love, love the story and I hate that the execution of it disappointed me.  I mean, massively disappointed. *sigh* I can’t say that I wouldn’t pick up another book if this is to be a series because I love the world so much, but I would be wary of the same quick mood changes.

  

Title ~ Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Super Villain

Author ~ Richard Roberts

Publisher ~ Curiosity Quills

Published ~ 15 February 2014

Genre ~ Middle Grade/Sci-Fi

Pages ~ 384

My Rating ~ 4 bites and a nibble out of 5

Penny Akk is the 13-year-old daughter of two superheroes, The Audit (her mom) and The Brain Auk (her dad). She’s impatiently waiting for her super powers to manifest even though they may not do so for a few years yet. But wonder of wonders, they do pop into existence. Only, Penny has no control over them nor can she make them perform at will. Excited and disappointed that she may still have to wait for them to settle, she continues about her life with her two best friends Claire and Ray. However, when her powers spark more and more within a week, and those powers set off Claire’s and Ray’s it’s only a matter of time before they’re out doing things they shouldn’t really be doing. Now, instead of being firmly on the superhero side they are instead pegged as new super villains. One little lie, some omissions and a few misdirections lead to another and another until they are leading the lives of super villains. How are they going to get out of their situation? But the more important question is, will they want to?

Very well-written with great characters this is a story I think my kids would love. Who wouldn’t want super powers? I wouldn’t mind some especially if they helped me win the lottery once in awhile. The trio of best friends become, by accident, a team of super villains and then they can’t just admit who they are. So they slide further and further into the super villain arena while still trying to be good because they intend to be “converted” to the superhero community when the time is right. However, they’re enjoying their newfound fame a bit too much to give it up. Heck, most adults would screw up like that and these kids are only 13. At least they try to keep from hurting anyone, causing a lot of property damage or outright stealing. And can I say that Penny’s Machine is pretty freakin’ awesome? That thing alone would be a huge boon to the environment, but she invents some other really cool stuff, too. This is a fun read that I think most people would enjoy.

Walking on Wednesday w/Audios ~ World War Z

Title ~ World War Z: Movie Tie-In

Author ~ Max Brooks

Narrator ~ various

Publisher ~ Books On Tape

Published ~ 14 May 2013

Genre ~ Paranormal/Post-Apocalyptic

*Book source ~ Local library

Rating ~ 2 bites out of 5

Narration ~ 5 bites out of 5

An interviewer documents the many stories of what people were doing when the Zombie War broke out.

Guest reviewers:

A ~ my 16-year-old daughter

T ~ my 14-year-old son

K ~ my 13-year-old son

T said it was stupendously boring and the movie was more exciting. A said she liked some of the interviews, but for the most part it was boring. She never watched the movie so has no opinion on it other than she heard it was stupid. K said it wasn’t too awful and was actually interesting in parts. K did watch the movie and thought both the book and the movie were ok. So, for the most part the consensus is that the book was boring. However, everyone did enjoy the fact that there were a multitude of different voices for the various interviews giving the book a rich in-depth listening experience.

I also agree it was boring. Some parts were ok, even a bit interesting and the narration was top notch, but not enough to elevate it to more than 'Meh'.

So, obviously not a book we will listen to again. Ah, well. Can’t like them all.

Red Adept Blog Tour ~ Braineater Jones

Title ~ Braineater Jones

Author ~ Stephen Kozeniewski

Publisher ~ Red Adept Publishing

Published ~ 14 October 2013

Genre ~ Horror/Mystery/Humor

*Book source ~ Many thanks to Red Adept for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating ~ 4 bites out of 5

It’s 1934 and a man wakes up naked, floating in a pool and he can’t remember who he is. Oh, and he’s dead. No, it’s not the beginning of a joke. Braineater Jones is the walking dead and he needs to figure out who he is, what happened to him and who killed him before he ends up dead dead. Or as he puts it, double dog dead.

I liked the premise for this story and the execution doesn’t disappoint. Wait, maybe I shouldn’t say execution. *shrugs* Braineater Jones…um, that isn’t his real name obviously since he can’t remember who he is. Anyway, Braineater wakes up naked and dead in a pool. Except he’s still functioning, albeit without a heartbeat and breathing and he has a bullet hole in his chest. Which he inspects then proceeds to look around his surroundings.

  

“After I finished fingering my hole, I went for the sliding glass doors.” 

And that is when I knew this book was going to be entertaining. Sometimes gross and sometimes grossly funny, but always entertaining me as I went about trying to figure out the twists and turns going on in Braineater Jones life. Or unlife. Or whatever you want to call it. Told from the POV of Braineater in a journal-like way the writing is superb and the world of 1934 comes to life. Toss a zombie community into the works, some nefarious goings on and the mystery of who tried to kill Braineater and why and you get a mysterious horror story. Or a horrific mystery. Whichever floats your boat. And just to be clear, I’m not going to be eating spaghetti for awhile. All-in-all a solid and unique zombie story. Just don’t eat while you’re reading it.

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Apple

Walking on Wednesday with Audios ~ Rot & Ruin

Title ~ Rot & Ruin

Series ~ Benny Imura, #1

Author ~ Jonathan Mayberry

Narrator ~ Brian Hutchison

Publisher ~ Recorded Books

Published ~ 2010

Genre ~ Post-Apocalyptic/YA

*Book source ~ Borrowed from the library

My Rating ~ 4 bites out of 5

Living in a post-apocalyptic world where zombies are the norm, Benny Imura is reaching the age where he needs to decide what he’s going to do for a job. Since he hates his older brother Tom for abandoning their mother on First Night he does not want to join the ‘family business.’ However, after trying many different jobs available he realizes he needs to at least give bounty hunting a try. And his life once again does a 180.

My guest reviewers for today:

My 16-yr-old daughter A

My 14-yr-old son T

My 13-yr-old son K

When asked to give their opinions on the book the vote was unanimous that Benny sucked. Some of the words to describe him were: whiner baby, idiot, prat, hobnocker (those who watch iCarly will recognize that one lol) and I wanted to beat him with a stick. Yeah, kinda my opinion, too.  However, everyone also agreed they liked him better towards the end of the book.

Also unanimous was that everyone loved Tom. He was cool, awesome and had mad skillz. And he shoulda beat Benny with a stick. Again with the stick. I’m going to need to keep a close eye on the walking sticks outside.

They liked the plot, the world and the characters, but it irritated them that zombies were called zoms. They said it sounded dumb and I agreed.

The narrator was good, but no one liked how he did the Lost Girl’s voice. It sounded like she smoked 10 packs of cigarettes a day for years. Other than that they enjoyed the narration.

All-in-all a great zombie story and they all would like to continue with the series. Unfortunately the library doesn't have copies of the next books.