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Buying Samir (India's Street Kids #2)
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Buying Samir by Kimberly Rae is about a young girl, Jasmina, who has been rescued from the streets of India. Jasmina had been exploited by child traffickers, and now is on the road to learning how to trust again. Jasmina is given a safe place to live with loving adults, yet she desires to find her family that she betrays those who would look after her. She sets out to rescue Samir, her brother, but she tries to do it on her own.

This book describes the dangerous side of the streets throughout the story. Through Jasmina's story, we learn more ways that people are lured in and human trafficked in India. Parts of the story were exciting, but Jasmina was more passive than usual while she figured out what was going on with the "modelling" business. I'd expected this to be more about Samir's story, but it's not. It's Jasmina coming to terms with how human trafficking has destroyed her family.

By the end of the story we are left with the beautiful outcome of Jasmina accepting Jesus Christ as her Savior. We see how His love can turn her tragedies into a story of healing and triumph. Samir, on the other hand, has sadly chosen to embrace his hatred and anger. It has turned him into becoming the very people he hated. Life is like that. We face trials, and who we turn to...God or Satan/the lost world...will decide whether our story is triumphant or tragic.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

I received this book from BJU Press via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
  
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Book Divas (227 KP) rated Her Sweetest Downfall in Books

Dec 12, 2017 (Updated Dec 12, 2017)  
HS
Her Sweetest Downfall
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I received an eARC when I signed up to host the book tour. I made no guarantee of a favorable review and the opinions expressed here are unbiased and my own.

Before you sit down to read this historical romance I highly suggest you gather some tissues as this gut wrenching and heart breaking story will have you crying just as it made me cry. This read will hold you in its captivating story line from beginning to end. The story and characters are simply amazing and you will ride an overwhelming roller coaster full of love and heartache.

I have many favorite quotes from this book but I must say that this one is truly my favorite of all: "I guess we're both birds with broken wings, unable to fly away."

I highly recommend this emotional read and I give it 5 Stars.
  
Before I Fall
Before I Fall
Lauren Oliver | 2017 | Children
8
7.6 (60 Ratings)
Book Rating
Premise (0 more)
Before i watch the film on Netflix today
This is a great High school story what would you do different if you had only one day. I loved the concept and the execution was brilliant. This book has just been made into a film and finally on Netfix today. Personally I cant wait to see if they have done it justice. I hope so film review will be up in a day or two. As a whole im a fan of Lauren Oliver I love Replica having two stories in one book where you had to flip the book to read the others story was amazing. Delirium I had a harder time getting into purely because i had read Matched the day before and the story and characters where so similar it was hard to differentiate between the two. However Before I fall is my favorite of all her stories.
  
Hope and Red
Hope and Red
Jon Skovron | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
There are 2 things I want to say about this audiobook.


1. The narration does not fit the feel of the book. The narrator would be great for a kids story but not for an adventure story like this. So if I were you, I would read it, not listen to it.

2. When I first started it, I had my doubts; but about 2 chapters in, I knew I was hooked. Even though the narration irritated me, this story is so involved, exciting, entertaining, and all-consuming, that I am dying for the next one. I am so excited and will be waiting for the release date.

If you love adventures, pirates, revenge, and a little hint of magic, this one is for you.

Content/Recommendation: Some violence and mention of sex, but no sexual content. Ages 16+
- See more at: http://www.thelifeandlies.com/2016/09/review-hope-and-red.html
  
Russian Doll
Russian Doll
2019 | Comedy, Mystery
Very well written, Very well acted, A different sort of female protagonist (EXCELLENT!), wonderful themes, very fun to watch (0 more)
awkward in moments (0 more)
A heady irreverent drama-dy fit for older millennials.
One of my favorite genres! I love messing with time-lines and time-loops. This show doesn't fall into the easy writing errors that many make with this genre. They don't spend time with exposition figuring out the "Why" of the plot. Instead, they just deal with the issues presented to them. They don't spend time messing with issues that can cause big continuity errors. They instead just use the plot to tell the story. The story was well thought out and beautifully told. It is a story essential for millenials struggling with identity, how we are shaped by others, and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable to those around us. Bravo! 9/10 would watch again.
  
TD
The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall
10
9.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
I loved Katie Alender’s Bad Girls Don’t Die series. I was ecstatic to find out she had written another horror ghost story. Miss Alender did not disappoint me with the Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall.

This was a book I didn’t want to put down. I would have read it all in one sitting too had it not been for real life getting in they way.

I loved all the characters and felt they were well written. Florence was my favorite character though for some reason.

The story line was well written. Plus, I love horror stories where an old house is involved.

Yes, some of the plot twists are predictable, and there were times I had some unanswered questions, but I still loved the book.

I would definitely recommend this book. I’m hoping Miss Alender will write another horror ghost story soon. She’s definitely one of my favorite authors.
  
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Tami (7 KP) rated One Summer in Books

Jul 10, 2018  
One Summer
One Summer
David Baldacci | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Characters (2 more)
Story development
Musical highlights
I was blown away by this book. Multidimensional, with characters that make you feel for every second of the book. You are so caught up by the emotion you can't wait until the next "page" to come up.

It was nice seeing the growth of this story from heartbreak to miraculous circumstance to healing. Meeting Jack, Micky (Mikkie - whichever way it's spelled - hard to tell from audio book), Corey and little Jakie is such a great family dynamic.

This story covers:

* heartache
* second chances
* change
* betrayal
* forgiveness
* and so much more.

I love that the audiobook has sections of it that have music themes. There are tender moments with sweet music and suspenseful moments with that eerie music you just can't shake. The narrator was easy to listen to and did great in segueing into the next voice without grating on your nerves.
  
TB
The Bourne Identity (Jason Bourne, #1)
8
7.6 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Action, story, world building (0 more)
Slow start, technical jargon (0 more)
Spyz, forgetfulnes, and.... What was I saying again?
This is one of my favorite books of all time. The beginning is very slow and methodical and creates a feeling of unease, and as the story progresses you learn more about character and what's going on almost as slowly as the protagonist Jason Bourne does. About half way through though there comes a point where we know more than he does and it increases the feeling of unease. As the story develops the pace slowly increases until you are reading as fast as you can trying to see what is going to happen or go wrong again. By the end you are sweaty and out of breathe and the reveal in the last chapter and even the last few lines is beautiful. Again I love this book.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Small Gods in Books

Nov 6, 2019  
Small Gods
Small Gods
Terry Pratchett | 1992 | Fiction & Poetry, Humor & Comedy, Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences
7
8.9 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
Your usual good Discworld story
I love the Discworld novels however if I’m being honest, I prefer the non-standalone series such as the City Guard, Death or the Moist Von Lipwig. Small Gods is one of the few standalone stories in the Discworld catalogue and whilst a Discworld novel is always good, this isn’t one of my favourites.

Brutha is a likeable main character but not lovable. Not because he’s a little bit dim but just because there’s not much to him. Om as the tortoise is rather funny, and the rest of the characters in this are good but not particularly memorable. The story itself is obviously a tongue in cheek take on religion and is funny in parts, although sadly considering when it was written maybe isn’t quite as relevant as it could be today. Overall it’s just a well written entertaining Discworld story.
  
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Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Fangirl in Books

Jan 11, 2021  
Fangirl
Fangirl
Rainbow Rowell | 2014 | Young Adult (YA)
8
8.9 (46 Ratings)
Book Rating
So I've pretty much devoured this book over the weekend, having very short breaks because I was a little bit hooked on the story. I fell in love with Levi, and Cath annoyed me at times, the secondary characters were great, or some of them were better than others, i.e Reagan, I loved her. As for the rest of the book, I didn't read half of the inserts from Simon Snow and Cath's fanfaction stuff because that wasn't the story I was interested in. I was interested in Cath and Levi. That being said, I was a little disappointed in the ending. I wasn't bothered about the eighth Simon Snow book being released, I wanted to read about what happened after break with Cath and Levi. Sigh...

Nevertheless, I was very gripped by this story and enjoyed it more than the other Rainbow Rowell book I've read Eleanor and Park