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Hazel (1853 KP) rated Minology in Books

Dec 17, 2018  
M
Minology
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.</i>

Have you ever wondered how your body works? Author Mark Murphy has his theory. The human body is full of little creatures known as min, and it is no different for 34 year old Will. Min live in every part of the body doing different jobs to make each part of the body work they way it should. However, these min are much like the humans they inhabit: they have their own jobs, their own lives, their own feelings and their own opinions.
Penelope Potts is a bored 15 year old min living in the left ear department with nothing much to do. Yet one day life becomes much more exciting when she and her best friend Henry are selected to take part in the trials to try and win themselves a position in Central Head.

Whilst this is taking place, however, the evil leader of the min, Sananab (incidentally bananas spelt backwards) has come up with a malicious plan that may change the life of the min forever. When Sananab discovers that Penelope is doing very well in the trials he becomes very interested in her. But when Penelope discovers his evil plan her life is immediately in danger.

Murphy’s ideas are very imaginative but are also similar to the <i>Numbskulls</i> in the <i>Beano</i> – perhaps this even had some influence on his novel? It is fun to envisage tiny beings living in human bodies making sure every organ works properly. The min themselves are an interesting bunch. Apart from Penelope, none appear to be that intelligent leading to humorous scenes, which could have the reader laughing out loud.

<i>Minology</i> despite the <i>“ology”</i> is not a heavy read and can be taken at the reader’s own pace. Whether they want something to read leisurely or something to read quickly this book will be more than adequate. And, if you like the min so much and want to read even more about their funny lives, there is a second book!
  
Swallow Me Whole
Swallow Me Whole
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I don’t usually read this genre of book. Anyone that knows me knows I’m a little bit of a prude. But, I saw on Goodreads that one of my friends had read it, so i thought “why not?”
After managing to get over the fact the no one was actually reading over my shoulder and judging me I managed to get into this book really easily. Overall, the style of writing is really easy to read. The blurb if this book intrigued me a little: young timid woman catches her boyfriend getting sucked off by his assistant at work after hours, so she seeks help from a friend to help her grow in sexual confidence. However, this is not how it went! To begin with, I feel that no timid young woman would, after catching her boyfriend and his assistant in the act, the go to do what she saw to one of her closest friends. This does not show timidity (is that even a word?) and is quite ballsy (excuse the pun…not). That’s not even mention how that would change the friendship dynamic tremendously…which it obviously did. Because the story started so full on I feel the author felt like the standard had to keep up and to do so the sexual riskiness had to increase and because of this some of the events were somewhat unrealistic for someone who was supposedly meant to be sexually inexperienced and shy.
My last comment on this book is about the relationship between the main female character and her father. I’ve read many reviews that say that this relationship was unrealistic or hard to believe. However, I have to disagree. I feel like that this showed a relationship dynamic perfectly between an overpowering father who has ensured no one in his life has ever questioned him and a young woman who, probably throughout her life, has been tip-toeing the line to ensure that there isn’t any changing of balancing within the home because the reprocussions wasn’t worth it. This shows perfectly the level of emotional blackmail and abuse happening in families.
  
The Sisters Grimm
The Sisters Grimm
Menna van Praag | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
10
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Sisters Grimm sounds like it’s going to be a fairytale, doesn’t it? But it isn’t in the childish sense of the word. If you’ve ever read any of the original Grimm’s fairytales, they’re rather more macabre - and people don’t always get their happy endings.

Sisters Grimm don’t actually know that that’s what they are. They may have vague memories (pre-puberty - and this is important) of playing in a fairytale wood, where they can do magical, amazing things, but they put it down to dreams later. That is until they approach their 18th birthdays, and some of these dream-like abilities start to manifest themselves.

This story is based around four girls who first met at 8 years old in the fairytale dream-world, Everwhere, forget one another after their 13th birthdays, and begin to remember closer to their impending 18th birthdays. They all have a different mother, but the same father who they will meet in Everwhere on the evening of their birthday. And it’s really important that they find one another again prior to this confrontation - where they will discover the truth about themselves.

I really enjoyed this. It says on Goodreads that it’s a Young Adult novel, and whilst it’s immaterial whether I agree with this or not, I do agree that it’s about reaching an age where you are finding out more about yourself and your impending independence, and that can’t be a bad thing for young people to read about.

I liked the darkness in this book - it’s no twee fairytale. There’s death, murder in fact, as a pretty major theme. And people aren’t necessarily nice. They lie, they’re selfish and they keep secrets that are best known.

The only negative I can think of, is that I really thought that this was going to be set up for the first part of a series. The end seemed quite rushed to me, and I’d love to know more about what happens afterwards. Well, that’s not really a negative, is it? That’ll be why I gave it top marks, to be honest - it’s a great book!

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book - another great choice!
  
All About the Hype (Jessie Jefferson, #3)
All About the Hype (Jessie Jefferson, #3)
Paige Toon | 2016 | Romance, Young Adult (YA)
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
So I'll be honest and say that I've forgotten a lot of what went on in the two previous books in this series but this starts with Jessie waking up on her sixteenth birthday, crying since it's also the anniversary of her mothers death, too. Her dad, Johnny Jefferson - famous rockstar, has a surprise gift for her of a trip to Disneyland with the rest of the family and one there, all her old school friends and the ones she's made while being in America turn up and they spend the day there. That same night, they throw a party for her and Johnny sings one of her bands songs sending their fame skyrocketing.

I feel i should mention my love of Johnny and Meg. I read their book, Johnny Be Good, years ago now and fell in love with them as a couple and then their second book, Baby Be Mine, tore my heart out a little with all the emotion it made me feel but they did get their HEA - although their story is also continuing through this series, too, and I think it came to a bit of a head in this one with the return of Dana.

As for Jessie, I didn't remember everything that happened in the previous books but my review of the last book on Goodreads threw some light on my feelings. I was a little torn in my feelings again, though, with Tom and Jack. It was like one minute Jack was being an arse and i wanted her to get back with Tom, and then the next Tom was shoving something in her face and I was happy for her to be with Jack. So confusing.

And also her band All Hype and their journey. It was cute to watch them slowly find success with the aid of Johnny when he thought they needed it. It was nice to read.

I will admit that I wasn't full invested in this story. Maybe it was the length of time I've left between books - about 3 years - but I was just waiting for the book to finish. That sounds harsh but I felt like I'd missed something.
  
This review and more can be found at my blog https://aromancereadersreviews.blogspot.com

A Romance Reader's Reviews

2.5 stars

This has been borrowed from the Kindle Unlimited library and has been on my "want-to-read-don't-own" shelf on Goodreads for quite a while

This starts with Tate crawling across the garden with her mother as they try to spy on their neighbour, who Tate's mum believes has taken her cat, Amy. They are interrupted by tattooed pretty boy, James, who happens to be their neighbours son. Instant attraction leads to flirting. Flirting leads to lots of hot almost-sex, almost because they keep being interrupted by the residents of the older peoples housing facility where they're visiting their respective parents. They finally do the deed before they both have to head home, only they now know they live in the same city. And of course they end up meeting again.

Before I started this I thought it was more of a new adult type thing with it's older cover but the new one (above) has made it all a bit more mysterious. I wasn't sure what the story was going to be other than a romance so its detailed sex scenes threw me off a bit and after so many, I started skipping them entirely. The romance was already starting to bloom so I wasn't really missing anything.

There's also a secondary storyline involving Tate's family restaurant and someone trying to get her to close it with daily threatening emails and stuff going wrong in the restaurant. When James gets wind of what's been happening he insists on helping her deal with it.

I have to admit that I liked James, quite a lot to be honest. He was a little take-charge and bull headed at times but you could tell he did it because he cared. Tate was far too judgmental at the start and it took me quite a while to warm up to her. She seemed really argumentative at times and somewhat whiny.

I'll admit that towards the end I started skipping bits, starting to lose interest in it. I was mainly waiting for the show down with the bad guy.

Not as good as I wanted it to be.
  
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Merissa (11950 KP) created a post

Feb 4, 2021  
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  An Upper YA Paranormal Romance series with magic, mystery, adventure, and a slow-burn romance, lots of cursing, and not just the magical kind...
TITLE: Of Wicked Blood
SERIES: The Quatrefoil Chronicles book 1
AUTHORS: @olives21 and @katie_hayoz
GENRE: Upper YA Paranormal Romance
BLURB
NO REST FOR THE WICKED . . . OR THE CURSED.
SLATE
I didn’t mean to steal the Bloodstone from the De Morel’s crypt.
Scratch that, I did mean to steal it.
Until I realized it was a curse-magnet that only comes off if I, along with a jolly trio, successfully defeat four curses.
If any of us fail, I’m dead.
I’ve never been a glass half-empty sort of person, but my glass looks in dire need of a refill right about now.
The only highlight of this wicked treasure hunt: feisty, entitled Cadence de Morel.
CADENCE
I was raised on tales of magic, in a small town reputed to be the birthplace of French witchcraft.
Did I believe all the stories I heard? Absolutely not. I mean, if magic existed, Maman wouldn’t have died, and Papa wouldn’t be stuck in a wheelchair, right?
Wrong.
The night Slate Ardoin waltzes into my life, wearing a ring he stole from my mother’s grave, I call him a monster.
But then I meet real ones, and Slate, well . . . he becomes something else to me.
Something frustrating to live with but impossible to live without.
Something I will fight for, no matter the cost.
**Warning: contains profuse cursing (and not just the magical kind).
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Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship
Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship
Tom Ryan | 2011 | History & Politics, Mind, Body & Spiritual, Natural World
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am still relatively "newb"-ish to GoodReads, meaning I *really* need to write reviews for many, er, most of the books I have on my "Read" shelf. Ah well, with the likely possibility of my wife and I relocating to NC (goodbye, antisocial, overtaxed NJ!) by summer's end, I will have more time to update the other reviews in the coming years. Yay! Okay, onto my review..

I feel I should preface my review, letting all know I am slightly biased in my overall loving of the book, as Atticus, the star of the book, is a mini schnauzer, one of my favorite dog breeds, as well as my wife's.

The book succeeds on several levels. One way, it was a moving tale of one man's bonding with a dog that he really was not ever looking to bring into his life. The relationship that develops between the author, Tom Ryan, and Atticus was interesting to witness, as it appears almost as if Atticus and Tom were destined to be together. The two seem to be good for each other, allowing each of them to grow in ways, both emotionally and spiritually, that neither may have grown without having me the the other.

Another way it succeeded was in that there was good advice for the soul and the spirit. It was almost like a roadmap of what your life could be like without clutter of internet drama, iPhones, etc. It truly showed what absolute bliss it is to have a dog in one's life and all that comes out of the relationship that develops between man and dog.

If you love dogs and have not read this book, you are doing yourself a great disservice. If you don't love dogs, you could still read this and walk a totally different person! Either way, you need to read this book - your life will be so much better for it!

In closing, I just want to thank Tom Ryan, and Atticus, for an amazing story, and that I can not wait for the follow-up, which deals with the life of Will, the other mini schnauzer that found his way into both Tom's and Atticus' lives!
  
I&#039;ll Give You the Sun
I'll Give You the Sun
Jandy Nelson | 2015 | Children
10
8.2 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
Read the original review: https://bookmarkedreading.wordpress.com/2015/10/08/book-review-ill-give-you-the-sun/

(Self-portrait: Book Remakes Girl)

Oh my Clark Gable. I'll Give You the Sun is simply amazing. It's a piece or artwork in itself, a definite new favourite of mine.

Alternating between twins Noah and Jude, I'll Give You the Sun is two alternating stories that twist together in ways so unexpected and so perfect that you'll undoubtedly want to read to the end without putting the book down. The Invisible Museum of Noah, aged 13 to 14, and The History of Luck, 16-year-old's Jude's story, are amazing on their own, but then they start to fit together so tremendously, and every little thing makes so much sense... I can't describe how amazing I found this book.

Jude and Noah were close; Noah was always painting, inside his head and out, and Jude was out being a badass daredevil, and building her flying women in the sand. But a horrific accident involving their mother sends them both tumbling, and the relationship between them is ruined.

But although all hope seems lost, the now-boycotting Jude finds the answer in such an unexpected way and suddenly everything falls back into place.

And Noah, after having his heart ripped out by his own actions, has to decide between telling the truth about his mother or keeping her secrets hidden beneath lies.

I love the style and layout of this book. The cover alone is wonderful, but the pages themselves are all so unique and interesting, I loved it at soon as I turned to the first page. It's not too busy or intricate, just simple little doodles and such giving each page a bit of character. And every cover I've seen is nice and minimalistic too. (If you want to look the book up and see the over editions and covers you can look at it on Goodreads.)

A story of family struggles, individual troubles, love and heartbreak, I'll Give You the Sun is simply beautiful. I'm dying to read it again, even after finishing it just ten minutes ago! A full 5 stars for this gorgeous book.
  
When Polly Met Olly
When Polly Met Olly
Zoe May | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
6
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I've seen this book on Goodreads quite often with friends rating and reviewing it so when I saw it on Netgalley as a "Read Now" and with me looking for good chick-lit writers that I'm going to buy again and again, I thought I'd give this a try.

So we meet Polly--a British ex-pat--who is being interviewed for a job at a successful dating agency. It turns out that Polly isn't so good at the dating thing in real life though, as shown in these quotes:

"Didn't you send him a peach and aubergine emoji with a question mark and a winky face when you were drunk?"
"What about that guy you called Mike for four dates then it turned out his name was Matt."

She gets the job and, quite quickly, she's asked to check out a rival firm who is stealing some of their clients. So Polly goes to the other firm as a possible client and meets Olly, the owner. They seem to have an instant connection, a spark, but Olly turns a little cold and clinical towards the end of her interview. They meet by accident a few more times as Polly explores the area surrounding her new office. We don't see him all that often in the book until near the end, to be honest. She's too busy trying to find the perfect partner and setting up dates for her clients.

As the books name suggests, they do end up together but not before hitting a few bumps along the way. It's on a really slow burn and does come a little out of left field when they finally admit they have feelings for each other but after that, the happiness they feel when they're together was really cute.

I loved the camaraderie between Polly and her friend Gabe, he teases her terribly at times but I had to smile. And her friendship with her boss, too, was pretty cool. They made quite a good team at the whole dating agency thing.

I think this was quite enjoyable and will look out for further releases to see if they're as cute as this one was.
  
Same Time Next Year
Same Time Next Year
9
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
Genre: Contemporary

Word Count: 4,560

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.27/5 stars

My rating: 4.5/5 stars

It’s not often a book can surprise me. But Same Time Next Year totally took me off guard.

Every year, for the past either years, Regina White and Tyler Harrison meet at the same hotel, in two connecting rooms for one night.

The receptionist, Elizabeth, thinks she has the whole situation figured out. But she doesn’t know what this night means to the mysterious couple. And somehow she can’t stop thinking about them anyway.

You can read Same Time Next Year for free on Smashwords.

At first I thought I wasn’t going to like this story. I thought it was about two people leaving their depressing and dull lives to have one night of infidelity and debauchery a year, like some sort of modern day fairy tale. On top of that, the “good” character, Elizabeth, is kind of a bitch who is quick to condemn and judge Regina, but smile and admire Tyler.

It’s one thing to disapprove of adultery, it’s another thing to have double standards about it.

But despite my misgivings at first, I got sucked into the very hot sex scene quickly.

“No, I don’t want champagne. I want you. Naked. And wet. And begging.”

Gotta love good dirty talk. Unfortunately the scene ends abruptly and before the couple gets to the really good part, if you know what I mean. 😉

For such a short story there is actually a lot of character development. We learn that Tyler and Regina met at a conference years ago, when they had those two hotel rooms by coincidence. Tyler loves how Regina’s strong and confident in public, but a little submissive in the bedroom. Regina loves how Tyler still wants her, and how he’s always willing to please her. They have great chemistry together and I love how they’re still attracted to each other after all those years, and always come back to the same hotel.

My only complaint, aside from the abrupt end to the sex scene, is Elizabeth. I get why she’s necessary to the story, but she’s undeveloped and unlikeable, and I wish she was gone.