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Young Annabelle (Y.A #1)
Young Annabelle (Y.A #1)
Sarah Tork | 2013
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I really enjoyed this!

The fact that it just kinda ended at the 95% mark, leaving me needing to know what happens at the party mentioned, may have affected my rating. I cant believe it just ended like that! I need to know what happens between them!

I loved James and Annabelle as a couple and I need to know that they get a HEA or at least get together in the next book. Luckily it's due out in a week or so.
  
Orange Is The New Black
Orange Is The New Black
2013 | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Story, casting (0 more)
Series 5 onwards (0 more)
Good show, starting to wane now
A good story based on the book by Piper Kerman.
The first 3 seasons of this were excellent, really gritty and true to life, after this the quality waned off and became a little ridiculous, season 5 was completely ridiculous and I dread season 6.
Im actually glad its the last one.
As I said the show has given me joy to watch for the first few seasons hence the 7 rating.
  
4.5 STAR RATING

Now I must admit that I sometimes find it very difficult to give a star rating to a self-help book as actually reading the book is only part of the therapy that it provides. In order to give a fully accurate rating the book would have to be read, the constructive ideas written within the pages followed and carried out wholeheartedly and a realistic amount of time left to pass for recovery. As I have only finished reading this book today I have not had time to really go through the processes that are outlined in this book, therefore, I do not know how much this book will actually have an impact on my life BUT I am willing to work my way through the suggestions.

I borrowed this book from the library (I find some self-help books to be over priced and there are just so many out there that you often don't know exactly what you're buying) so I am not able to refer back to this copy time and time again throughout recovery like this book suggests you do (unless I decide to purchase a copy) and so quite a few of the processes will have to be carried out using memory, which I know isn't often advised.

The reason for my high rating is because I found this book to be completely different to any other self help book that I have read in the past. Often these books outline the same sort of processes so you keep being fed the same sort of information but this book seems to have a more relaxed approach to dealing with stress, anxiety and depression...and in some ways a more realistic approach. It teaches you the methods of 'floating' not 'facing', 'accepting' not 'fighting' and 'comfort' not 'conflict'.

I am definitely not a stranger to anxiety and depression and so for a long time I have been actively searching for ways in which these 'illnesses' can be 'cured' or made less intense. This book has definitely helped me in the sense that it has given me a completely different perspective compared to what I had before reading this book. Stress and depression can cause you to be a lot less open minded than you perhaps used to be and being accepting of new ideas and view points may seem very daunting, however, when ideas are presented in this book Dr Weekes gives examples about how the sufferer may be feeling once presented with an idea (personally I found her to be pretty spot on) and so you are given a sense of relief that someone out there knows what you are going through and that she has helped many people in similar situations.

The book also contains numerous 'Case Studies', where Dr Weekes gives examples of some of her clients, their problems, their emotions, their coping strategies and the feedback that she provides for them. The 'life problems' discussed are very broad and so you may find that one might be similar to your current situation, a situation you have been in or perhaps even a situation that you are frightened you might end up in in the near or distant future.

My retraction of 1/2 a star wasn't because this book has any negative aspects but simply because I am yet to fully explore it's full potential and to put it into practice, as mentioned earlier on in my review.

I find that just knowing that someone is there 'talking to you' and 'guiding' you in the right direction is comforting and kind of relaxing in a way...a helping hand, to turn that frown upside down.
  
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Becs (244 KP) rated Dragon Wing in Books

Sep 10, 2018  
Dragon Wing
Dragon Wing
Rebecca K. Busch | 2018 | Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
6
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The storyline. (1 more)
The descriptions.
Grammatical errors. (2 more)
More grammatical errors.
Missing character backgrounds.
A great read but also not a great read.
I received Dragon Wing by Rebecca Busch as a read and review copy from Austin Macauley Publishers for my full honest review.

I was really wanting to love this book and give a five-star rating, but there were so many grammatical errors that it honestly killed me at times to read. Don't get me wrong, the storyline was wonderful and I loved it but with the grammatical errors, the whole book was lacking and seemed like a Wattpad story. (Now there is nothing wrong with Wattpad stories. But when you get an actual physical copy or even digital copy of a book, you kind of hold it at a higher standard compared to reading a story that is only published online.) With that being said, I could only give this story a 3-star rating due to the lack of editing Dragon Wing went through. If it was edited properly, I would say this could have easily been a 4 to a 4.5 star read. But the errors take away from some of the plot, causing it to be boring and way too difficult to read.
  
Storm Rising (Book of the Wars, #1)
Storm Rising (Book of the Wars, #1)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I absolutely LOVED this book (and so did my husband, who rarely likes reading) it had action, Biblical mystery, swirling relationships (Which hopefully we get to see in the next book) and many daring spy type stunts. A great book that pulls you in and does not want to let go, I read it a week ago and I still keep thinking about the possible scenarios. It was so hard to put down. If you have never read anything by Ronie Kendig this is a great one to start with, and one I highly recommend putting on your summer TBR Pile.

I give this book a 5 star rating for the many adventures, the depth of the characters, and for making me feel as though I was right there experiencing all of it first hand. Can not wait to read the next one in this series !!
  
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Alexander McCall Smith | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry
6
6.9 (9 Ratings)
Book Rating
Okay, I didn't hate this book as much as I thought I would but that doesn't mean much. As anyone that follows my reviews will notice, I do not read mysteries. When I do read a mystery it is for book club and inevitably I find it dull. This book was no different. I would give this book a 2.5 star rating so I rounded up to 3.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency made me reminiscent of Agatha Christie & Mary Higgins Clark. So if you enjoy those authors, I'm sure that you would enjoy this author. There was mystery but no suspense so it seemed to drag on for me. I borrowed this book from the library but after reading 5 pages into the book, I had to switch to the audiobook so that I could force myself to read the rest of the book.

Not going to lie, this reminded me a lot of Winnie the Pooh. If you think about it, Winnie the Pooh was always looking to solve a mystery and each chapter or episode/15 minute segment was a new mystery. This is very similar to this book.

All in all, I will not continue on in this series.
  
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Roxanne (13 KP) rated Horns in Books

Nov 14, 2018  
Horns
Horns
Joe Hill | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror
10
7.9 (19 Ratings)
Book Rating
This one is definitely gonna stick in my head for some time. Now I've decided on a rating I'm gonna have to think hard about an upcoming review...as I have no idea where to start.

Update: 17/05/15

_____ 5 Star Rating

The sign of a truly excellent book IMO is that it will stay with you for a long time after you have read it and this is certainly one of those books. It was, in many ways, a perfect read for me. My reasons are that it is dark, disturbing, vile, twisted, extreme, evil and just plain disgusting...I loved it. This is a very well written, original story about good vs evil and about the deepest, darkest secrets hidden in the minds of those around us. I'm so glad I picked this up from the library, it sounded like my sort of thing and it certainly was.
  
Calling Mrs Christmas
Calling Mrs Christmas
Carole Matthews | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
9
9.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
A fantastically festive romance (3 more)
The perfect book to read as the festivities begin
Cassie Smith is a great leading character
Reading about lapland made it all the more enjoyable
As with all Carole Matthews books, I found myself clinging to every page drawn in by Cassie Smith and her new venture and the up and downs it would bring to her.
For me personally, I found the obvious research for characters and locations and consequence details used within the book, made it even more appealing and heartfelt to read and certainly added to my overall enjoyment and high rating for Calling Mrs Christmas.
This is a book I could read again and again and I would definitely recommend for anyone looking for a festive read with some fun-filled, heartwarming Christmas spirit.
  
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BobbiesDustyPages (1259 KP) rated Caraval in Books

Nov 9, 2017 (Updated Sep 15, 2020)  
Caraval
Caraval
Stephanie Garber | 2017 | Young Adult (YA)
5
8.1 (97 Ratings)
Book Rating
A world you could truly get swept away in.
I find rating Caraval pretty hard and keep bouncing between 3 and 4 stars on goodreads because, on one hand, the world the Garber built was absolutely amazing it had everything I could have wanted from a book like Caraval. But and let me tell you it's a giant but, I found myself getting so frustrated throughout the book with the main character Scarlett and the frankly half ass attempt at the romance part of the plot I just never really bought the chemistry Garber tried to create between Scarlett and Julian.

I did love the whole mystery of Legend though, so between him and the world of Caraval I will more than likely be reading the next book.
  
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Roxanne (13 KP) rated Coraline in Books

Nov 14, 2018  
Coraline
Coraline
Neil Gaiman, Chris Riddell | 2013 | Children
6
8.4 (41 Ratings)
Book Rating
___ 3 'Creepy' Stars

I'm going to be totally honest here...if I was just rating Coraline then I probably would of given this book 5 Stars as I enjoyed that story very much. It was creepy, atmospheric, well written and I really liked the artwork. I adored the animated film but have only now gotten around to reading the story that inspired its making. I just knew I was going to love reading the original story.
What let this book down, in my opinion, was all of the other short stories that followed. I enjoyed maybe 2 other stories but when reading the rest I was looking forward to finally finishing the book. For this reason I had to knock off 2 stars...but Coraline really was great.