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Human Waste
Human Waste
C. M. Saunders | 2017 | Horror
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I came across C. M. Saunders through a website that I wasn’t sure about, so I randomly messaged him on Facebook. In response, after explaining that I was a book blogger, Saunders kindly provided me with some of his work for the purpose of review. While it’s taken me awhile to get to it, I’m glad I did because Human Waste is a fun, albeit somewhat (keyword: somewhat) predictable take on the zombie apocalypse.

Dan Pallister is, undoubtedly, not playing with a full deck of cards, if you catch my drift. Despite this, he makes for a fun, original character. Ever since childhood, he’s been obsessed with survival–he wants to be prepared for when shit hits the fan, after all. One morning, exactly what he’s been waiting for happens: he looks out his window and sees zombies. This prompts him to go for supplies at the supermarket nearby, and from there Saunders dips his metaphorical toes in the world of splatterpunk which, if you’ve been reading my blog for sometime, you’ll know I like.

My only gripe with reading this is the fact that I had the story figured out (mostly) from pretty early on. Despite that, Saunders continues to entertain with Dan’s skewed view of reality and that is a feat. Rather than becoming boring, the story kept me hooked and I read it in one sitting.

This story comes with some bonus content, however I will not be reviewing it as I consider bonus content to be separate material. I definitely look forward to reading Saunders’s No Man’s Land.

A special thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of his work for the purpose of unbiased review.
  
We have always lived in the castle
We have always lived in the castle
Shirley Jackson | 2024 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Good writing skills by the Author (0 more)
Plotless (2 more)
Made no sense
Kiddish
CONFUSED! Is what I’m after finishing this novel. This Novel does showcase some excellent writing and story telling skills by the author.
Chapter 1 needed my utmost attention and I had to slow down my reading pace to understand all those directions and the story because there was a lot going on. From chapter 2, the story began to flow more easily and I was able to pick up some pace with my reading, by chapter 5, I was enjoying the story with the entry of cousin Charles and Merricat’s attempts to frighten him with all that poison talk. By Chapter 7, I was back to the blurb in search of some missing element, like a plot or some kind of purpose or meaning to this story but failed to find any and by chapter 9, this book began to wear me out in terms of reading, I had to put it down and pick it back up a couple of times. This is how I actually felt throughout this book.

Though, I enjoyed the writing and the narration from Merricat’s POV but as far as the story goes, this book just didn’t make sense to me. There was no plot or purpose as to why the characters behaved in a particular manner, was Merricat dead or alive — I had no clue. It was absolutely not a horror story and was very childish. And the ending just went on in circles and the chapters grew longer and tiresome to get through. The book just left me with a lot of unanswered questions.

I personally wouldn’t recommend this book unless you are looking for a good piece of writing.
  
The American Plate: a Culinary History in 100 Bites
The American Plate: a Culinary History in 100 Bites
Libby H. O'Connell | 2014 | Food & Drink
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book has its pros and cons. Pros include the ability to pick it up and down at leisure, as the information (or bites, if you will) is separated very easily for that purpose. It was a good book to take on vacation. One big con, for me, was some of the author's source material. She cited Wikipedia quite a few times; now, I'll admit, I will use Wikipedia sometimes for a starter, but any well-sourced article is going to have primary sources you can use to your advantage. That was a bit disappointing, that she chose low-hanging research fruit. The first half of the book is much stronger than the second half, as we approach the modern era. Sometimes it seemed that the author was reaching a little bit in later "bites." Still worth a look, overall.
  
HB
Herbie's Big Adventure
Jennie Poh | 2016
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<a href="https://awindowintobooks.wordpress.com">Full Review</a>
Herbie's Big Adventure by Jennie Poh is a cute illustrated book. Herbie, a hedgehog, is content with staying at home but his mom says he needs to go on his first adventure, forging. Naturally, Herbie is worried about being out on his own. He finds himself liking the world outside of his home. As he continues his adventure, Herbie travels farther and farther from home.

This is a cute story about a little hedgehog. The book teaches about the different seasons, going out in nature, and the bond between mother and child. The illustrations are amazing. The pictures have bright colors and make you feel that you are part of Herbie's forging.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Capstone Young Readers via NetGalley for the purpose of providing an honest review.
  
Mockingjay
Mockingjay
Suzanne Collins | 2012 | Young Adult (YA)
7
8.1 (174 Ratings)
Book Rating
Ending (0 more)
Build up (0 more)
Surprising ending
I really liked that there were a few curve balls thrown into the ending and that it built upon the mental health of the characters but it just seemed very stilted, with over a half of the book very slow paced and then all the action thrown into the last quarter or so of the book. I felt that some of the things that were in the book didn't really need to be in there and I'm not 100% happy with what happened to Prim in the end as it really defeated the whole purpose of all three books and without explaining the significance of the outcome, it just seemed overly harsh on top of everything else that had happened to Katniss.

Overall it was a nice twisty ending but just wasn't as good as the first two.