Book Review: Raw by Belle Aurora

Author: Belle Aurora

Release Date: January 2014

Publisher: CreateSpace

Pages: 358

Rating: 5 stars

Buy on: Amazon

Add to: Goodreads , Leafmarks

***Author Note: This is not a love story. This is a story of love gone wrong.*** Growing up the way I did, you'd think I'd be more screwed up than what I actually am. Soon as I turned sixteen, I left that bump in the road I called home and took my chances on the street. Best decision I ever made. Now, at the age of twenty six, I'm educated, employed and damn good at my job. My friends have become my family. Like me, they know what it's like to grow up unloved. But the saying is true. The world makes way for those who know where they are going. That's me. I know where I'm going and I'll get there eventually. On my own terms and at my own pace. But then there's him. I feel his eyes on me. I see him hiding in plain sight. He watches me. He makes me feel. It's unconventional. But it's real. I'm sure you're wondering how a person falls in love with their stalker. So am I. This isn't a story. This is my life. ***This book includes situations that some may find uncomfortable.

My Thoughts:

DISCLAIMER: This book contains mature context,drugs, violence and foul language.

Raw is one of those books that talk about hard stuff. It is one of those books that attempt to change the readers view on a specific topic while some fail some others succeed. Raw is one of the books in the later category.

This is not a love story, this is love story gone terribly wrong. The book is written in an alternative pov that makes it even better, at least for me.

Everything starts with Alexa, a child of the system who made it big in Australia as a successful case worker, she is dedicated to her job, she loves the people she is responsible for and she has a stalker. Normal stuff.

I liked Alexa since page one, she is smart, and careful and leads a pretty normal life like every other person until one night everything she considers normal will wash away, she will come face to face with danger, recklessness and she will find her self in a world so much different that he own. But she is not afraid to just jump in and get the best out of it.

Meet Twitch, the stalker. The guy who has been watching Alexa for a year, an unstable psychopath, who needs anger management lessons and he is a bad person in general, from whatever point of view you decide to take it. To be honest, I loved Twitch because he is not your normal anti-hero. The guy is dark and twisted and literally he has no heart. He has nothing inside him that can love anyone or anything. He is scary, terrifying and he is real. A real stalker.

These two, are so much different, yet they have something in common. A memory that has defined both of them differently.

This is a book that shows us that labeling people can be deceiving, because looks don;t always matter. A book about finding your dark side and embarrassing it, a book that will tear your heart in little pieces and throw them out of the fucking window.

While reading this book I came to realise that no one is truly lost until you try till you drop to save him, to help him, to show them that you care. The book was twisted, and sad, with a lot of ups and downs and fucking twists that made me pull my hair out of my skull one by one. When you feels sure that you know something there comes the twist that makes you look at the page like an alien. Like you dont understand what you are reading. I loved that, because its been some time since I read a book that I actually did not want to turn the page because I was terrified of what will happen next. Raw is not an emotional roller coaster is a roller coaster ride gone terribly bad.

To be honest, I dont; know how I feel about stalkers right this moment, but it may have changed my view more than I am anticipating. These are people too that something went wrong in their lives at some point that made them who they are. Everyone goes through something that defines us as humans it is just some people tend to not take it that well and end up on the other side, the dark side.

While the book was exceptionally well written and it had its doses (apart from sadness, terror, mind blowing sex) of (surprise) humor that had me rolling on the floor with tears in my eyes and some romantic scenes (that were followed by pain) the ending was bloody awful. Literally.

I feel that its a cliffhanger so it better be a second book on the way. So, for people who hate cliffhangers and promising endings this book is not for you.

I recommend this book, because it is dark, twisted and something different from what we are used reading on the erotica genre.

this book reminded me of this song: Whore by In This Moment

Book Review: Patch Up by Stephanie Witter

Author: Stephanie Witter
Release Date: September 11th 2013
Publisher: Anchor Group Publishing
Series: Patch Up #1
Pages: 296
Rating: 4 stars
Buy on: Amazon
Add to Goodreads

* Due to some shocking scenes, this novel is for readers of 18 and up.

Skye followed her long time boyfriend to Seattle for their first year of college, but he dumped her after only a week. The relationship brought only pain and destruction in Skye's life, and yet, she can't bring herself to open up and live her life.

"What if I am already broken into pieces?"

She hates to be touched, hiding under her oversized shirts and behind her wild frizzy hair. Even her bubbly roommate can't reach her. And yet ...

"I'm the guy who knows how you can hurt so much that your insides feel like they're cut and bleeding."

The tall, handsome, and tattooed TA in her psychology class changes everything when he literally collides with her and confronts her. For the first time in a long time, she wants to try and open up to this guy whose dark, intense eyes can't hide his own pain despite his dazzling smile getting to her.

However, just when she's starting to live again, her ex-boyfriend comes back, breaking her time and time again, making it all the more complicated.

She wants to fight for herself and for this building thing with the TA, even when he pushes her away, but can two broken people patch each other up?

"I never thought colliding with someone could change lives, but it is possible."
 

My Thoughts:
 

This ARC was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Although the story started immediately, really I am not kiding, its one of those books that cut to the chase and I just loved it, but the sentences were too short, the emotions too shallow and even from the first few pages I found myself contemplating my next read BUT I was so wrong. I am so glad I gave it a chance because by chapter three the book transformed like a phoenix to something so deep, complicated and painful that I couldn;t believe what I was reading.

Stephanie Witter is my new favorite author. In the steps of Jessica Sorensen she delivers a book so emotional and deep, so real that I found myself tearing up in some scenes. Skye was such a complicated woman. Dealing with her depression and an abusive relationship under her belt that made her doubt herself and stomp on her self appreciation, hiding from everyone and from everything she comes face to face with her TA, Duke.

Duke is one of the most heart broken characters I have ever read, dealing with his own depression and loss, he founds refuge in the complicated life of Skye. Their friendship is just mesmerizing. Two broken people find solace on each other by helping each other face his/her fears and demons. By accepting who they are, how things were and how they can have a bright future ahead of them . The past is the past.

“I’m the guy who knows how you can hurt so much that your insides feel like they’re cut and bleeding.”

I liked the fact that we get all of their background information as the story progresses, as they get to know each other more and more.

There were times that I wanted to throw my kindle on the wall because Skye was being really annoying and she was full with contradictions. She wanted something and then she changed her mind again in order to change her mind again later. That was crazy. Some situations kept repeating until it became predictable and annoying and felt like the book went in a circle for a while.

Still, the feels were just over the top. I just couldnt believe it, and the worst part was that they came in powerful waves that you could nothing to stop them but just drown in them. Desperations, pain, humiliation, sadness, embarrassment and happiness, from love and affection we fly over to the land of guilt and remorse. It was just astounding.

The writing captivated me completely and I finished this book within a few hours and right now I just cant find the second part to be released.

This is a story that deals with tough situations,abuse depression, the power of finding yourself again and take control of who you are and facing your fears. There were a few disturbing scenes that made the book even better – from an emotional point of few always- and had me aching for both Skye and Duke.

I totally recommend this book.

Efterpi

Book Review: Dirty Rocker Boys: Love and Lust on The Sunset Strip by Bobbie Brown (with Caroline Ryder)

Author: Bobbie Brown with Caroline Ryder
Release Date: November 26th 2013
Publisher: Gallery Bookes
Pages: 272 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Buy on: Amazon
Add on Goodreads

SHE'S MY CHERRY PIE. Tastes so good, make a grown man cry.

Who could forget the sexy 'Cherry Pie' girl from hair metal band Warrant's infamous music video? Bobbie Brown became a bona fide vixen for her playful role as the object of lead singer Jani Lane's desires. With her windblown peroxide mane, seductive scarlet lips, and flirtatious curves, she epitomized every man's fantasy. But the wide-eyed Louisiana beauty queen's own dreams of making it big in Los Angeles were about to be derailed by her rock-and-roll lifestyle. . . .

Ever wonder what it 's like to f*** a rock star?

After her tumultuous marriage to Jani imploded, and her engagement to fast-living Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee ended in a drug haze-followed by his marriage days later to Pamela Anderson-Bobbie decided it was time Hollywood's hottest bachelors got a taste of their own medicine. Step one: get high. Step two: get even.

In a captivating, completely uncensored confessional, Bobbie explicitly recounts her encounters with some of the most famous men in Hollywood: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kevin Costner, Mark McGrath, Dave Navarro, Sebastian Bach, Ashley Hamilton, Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli, Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, Orgy's Jay Gordon, and many more. Who's got the most titanic dick in Tinseltown? Whose bedroom did Bobbie (literally) set on fire? No man was off limits as the fun-loving bombshell spiraled into excess, anger, and addiction.

Bobbie survived the party-barely-and her riveting, cautionary comeback tale is filled with the wildest stories of sex, drugs, and rock and roll ever told.

My Thoughts:

This book contains strong language, descriptive sex, drugs, booze and disturbing scenes.

It was one of those boring evenings that I had nothing to do but youtubing random things...from how to's tutorials to music to top 10 things etc etc and then I found myself watching the first season of Ex Wives of Rock. Two of those ladies seemed familiar to me. One of them was Athena Lee which I had seen live with her then husband James Kottak of Scorpions at a Scorpions concert in Greece in 2008. Yay. The other one was Bobbie Brown and I remembered instantly from the video clip of Warrant, Cherry Pie.

To be honest I;m not into reality shows, I think they are stupid and pretentious and that there is no reason for someone to go on live TV with their personal lives especially if they are famous (they are all over the tabloids anyway). That , I realized when I was in the 7th episode of the show. Yay. And here;s how I ended up reading this book.

Bobbie went on and on about her book and how it failed with one of the publishers etc etc. During the show she says how Pamela Anderson stole Tommy Lee from her and how she was married with the late Jani Lane, lead singer of Warrant. I was intrigued ,because, if I like one thing its autobiographies.

The book was a drama, coming from a broken family, Bobbie was one thing but rebel. She was shy and she had boyfriends but not as many as we would probably think. She came second at the beauty pageant
competition and from then her fame skyrocketed. Agents called her from Los Angeles to model for them and soon 20 year old Bobbie found herself in the City Of Angels, a shy Louisiana girl turned into the most sexy and confident woman and then her downfall began.

It seemed to me that Bobbie had so many opportunities to make big in the scene but her desperation for love and acceptance came first. From what I realized she didnt want to be alone almost never, she always had a boyfriend and if she didnt, she would have sex with someone. She did a couple of video clips for some bands and when she landed the deal with Warrant she became so famous but that only came back to bite her in the ass. She got pregnant from Jani Lane and they rushed into a marriage that none of them was really sure if it would work (and it didnt). That experience alone it would mess up any sane person out there. Jani was over the top, came home drunk, cheated, lied, didnt have sex with her (which she hated) and she became such a b*** that it was disturbing. In the end their marriage failed and Bobbie with a 2 year old kid was moving back and forth all the tme between Louisiana and Cali. But while I was reading all of this and It was a big portion of the book I felt nothing. It was written in non descriptive way, with sentenced composed by a five year.

Meet Tommy Lee. I wont say a lot about this but in my opinion this was the most explosive relationship ever. Both made huge mistakes and both had issues and drugs didnt help at all.
It was like every rock relationship should be like. Sex, drugs and rock n roll with a touch of continuous fighting.

Bobbie Brown was a really kind, sensitive and a good woman that went after the wrong men. Men that she hoped they would provide what she needed but eventually they didnt.

The writing was ok if you consider she used a ghost writer but the dialogues didnt seem real, like they never happened or they were changed. The emotions were kind of flat for a memoir and in the end it left a bitter taste because you realise that Bobbie wasted 15 years of her life, her best years like someone would say, on finding the perfect boyfriend, drugs and constant self sabotaging. She would have made it big if she was a little more down to earth. I just felt sorry for her.

Efterpi

Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: April 2nd 2009
Series: If I Stay
Pages: 201
Rating: 3 stars
Buy on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.
I sit up as much as I can.
And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.

My Thoughts: 

I was avoiding this book mainly because it was being compared to Lovely Bones and then some people were saying that it will appeal to Twilight fans. I loved twilight ,dont get me wrong ,but I didnt want to read something similar, or worse, a fan fiction.

When I started If I Stay, I couldnt really get into it. Maybe its me, but the writing seemed to me simple and more like 5th grade-ish. Like a kid trying to write a composition. Seemed to me that the emotions were flat and didnt give me the excitement I was expecting – the excitement I expect from every book – to connect with the main characters. I thought of giving it up and I am glad I didnt because then the twist came and the writing transformed to something astoundingly amazing and lively.

I was captivated by the beauty of the words the author was using, how the sentences were so alive and gave me goosebumps from the horror and amazement of what I was reading. Memories blended with the present creating a serene (almost) and yet gloomy atmosphere. If Lovely Bones was all about death, If I Stay was all about the celebration of life and the choices we make and how things can change within a millisecond.

Although the writing was beautiful and the characters well crafted and lively and the plot down to earth (if you exclude the paranormal element), I still felt like something was missing. Mia seemed cold to me, like literally, she felt nothing, or she was trying to suppress the feelings that overwhelmed her. Towards the end of the book, I think Mia had an epiphany of some sort and she started feeling everything and then the book became an emotional roller coaster because from 0 feelings you go to a crazy amount of feelings and all the things that you were reading all this time come down to crush you and yes, you tear up.

And now, in order to make an excuse for the rating of If I Stay, I will say that this book confused me a lot when it comes down to how it is written. I didnt know if it was like that on purpose or its just me so I decided to compromise and give it a decent rating.

Efterpi

Quintessentially Q by Pepper WInters (book review by Efterpi)

Author: Pepper Winters

Publisher: CreateSpace

Release Date: December 13th 2013

Series: Monsters In The Dark #2

Pages: 376

Rating: 5 stars

Buy on: Amazon

Add on Goodreads  

All my life, I battled with the knowledge I was twisted… fucked up to want something so deliciously dark—wrong on so many levels. But then slave fifty-eight entered my world. Hissing, fighting, with a core of iron, she showed me an existence where two wrongs make a right."

Tess is Q’s completely. Q is Tess’s irrevocably. But now, they must learn the boundaries of their unconventional relationship, while Tess seeks vengeance on the men who sold her. Q made a blood-oath to deliver their corpses at Tess’s feet, and that’s just what he’ll do.

He may be a monster, but he’s Tess’s monster.

 REVIEW:

For those of you that considered Tears Of Tess a dark and twisted book then you should not read this one. This is a much darker, twisted, painful book that you can possibly imagine. I had to stop reading at some parts just to get myself together from the shock, to register the fact that I was actually reading that particular scene or paragraph.

The book continues where Tears of Tess left off, we read one of the hottest sex scenes and I felt like everything would be okay in this book. Everything would turn out alright and Tess with Q would be able to do what they swore to each other.

The writing was great, the author did a great job with the point of view of Q and to be honest with thought and talked the way I had pictured him doing in the first book, so thats a plus for the story, when the author can actually sense what her fans need and deliver it. She also did a really good job with getting my heart ripped out of my chest.

Tess is being kidnapped under Q's nose and I wont spoil anything to you, I will just warn you that what you will be reading is games and fun, love and romance. It's violence to its extreme to the point that I panicked thinking even for a minute what trafficking victims go through. The only thing that I will tell you is that Tess will go through the 9 circles of Hell and back. As for Q, Q broke my heart into a thousand little pieces.

The writing like I said before was so good and this time the author gave Q a rather more animalistic side entwined with love for Tess. It was a scary narration since we see what a human can actually do if he has the means to take back what was taken from him. How can someone lose hope and find it to the weird places, how you shut down emotionally when someone you love is being forced to do the worst of tihngs, things that are no humanly imaginable and how you cope with these thoughts.

This is one great read with more adventure and pain that ever you ,will more than mesmerized by the talent of the author.

Meet Me At The River by Nina De Grammont (book review by Efterpi)

Author: Nina De Gramont
Release Date: October 13th 2013
Publisher: Atheneum
Pages: 384
Rating: 4 stars
Buy on: Amazon

We can't choose who we love - but can we choose to let go?

Stepsiblings Tressa and Luke have been close since they were little - and when they become teenagers, they slip from being best friends to being something more. Their relationship makes everyone around them uncomfortable, but they can't - won't - deny their connection. Nothing can keep them apart.

Not even death. Luke is killed in a horrible, tragic accident, and Tressa is suddenly and desperately alone. Unable to outrun the waves of grief and guilt and longing, she is haunted by thoughts of suicide. And then she is haunted by Luke himself.

He visits only at night. But when he's with her, it's almost like the accident never happened. Oh, there are reminders, from the way she can only feel him when he touches the scars on her wrist, to how she can't seem to tell him about life since he's been gone. As long as they're together, though, the rest - it fades away.

But during the day it is Tressa who can't grasp hold of the people around her. The same people who never wanted her and Luke together in the first place are determined to help her move on. Determined to help her heal. They just don't understand - one misstep, one inch forward, could leave Luke behind forever.

Reviews:

When I was working at a bookstore I was around 100's of books...between them was this one.

The storyline is simple and cliché – about a girl and a boy , the ''mean parents'' (this reminds me of stuff – probably he is reading this right now and he is either smilling or cursing :) , a weird mother and the boys death. Its a pretty cliché romance BUT (drumroll please) the writing is so beautifuly amazing, so superb and although I wouldn;t read this book the writing alone made me finish it within a day.

Meet Tressa the girlfriend left behind and has to cope with the death of her boyfriend. Meet Luke the dead boyfriend – he is dead I know – but what kind of a young adult novel would that be without the dead coming back to hunt us???? Right. What I have to say next may be confusing for some and not for others. Although Meet Me At The River has a touch of paranormal the whole plot is all about coping with grief and life. Coming of age like. The beautiful writing that I mentioned earlier helped a lot to shape the story.

Its a sad book. I didnt cry but my heart swell from sadness when paranormal and actual real life blended together. Tressa trying to find a way to cope with the loss and Luke trying to help her do it. How the people after an accident see you, how you get special treatment like you are a celebrity or simply because they think you are too fragile that if they push you even a tad you will break into a thousand little pieces.

There is a side story to the whole thing as well. Tressas mother and her adventures. This is the most important of all in order to understand Tressa and what shaped her. Why she didn;t quite fit with the rest and why Luke chose her. Make sure to pay extra attention to the family explaining otherwise you wont understand a thing.

This is a great read and although not The Fault In Our Stars (tears tears everywhere) this is a book worth reading.

The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman (book review by Efterpi)

Author: Wladyslaw Szpilman
Release Date: January 2003
Publisher: Picador
Pages: 224
Rating: 4 stars
Buy on: Amazon

Written immediately after the end of World War II, this morally complex Holocaust memoir is notable for its exact depiction of the grim details of life in Warsaw under the Nazi occupation.

Review:

The pianist is an amazingly well written book by a Jew survivor of WW2. Szpilman starts telling us about his life a few months before the German Invasion in Poland in 1939 and he cuts quick to the chase. Unlike, any other autobiographies based on this particular era we can see how everything started and how situations progressed for the jews and not only. The reader gets the chance to actually read how the newspapers wrote articles about the ghetto and the laws the Germans put out for everyone to follow...laws against the Jews and how absurd all these seemed then. No one believed a word from what was said until the Nazis started killing people in the street for no reason.

We read all these through the eyes of a jewish man who did everything he could do to protect his family, a man who witnessed atrocities of every kind happen to elderly and kids.How the Germans picked out people and executed them in front of everyone ,but also within this dark period we see people who were not that bad. Like a Nazi soldier or lieutenant who helped Szpilman and hide him and gave him food. I felt his hunger when he was looking for food and i felt his anguish as he drank water with bugs in it. The Pianist is a book that gives an insight of how it feels to be the hunted one and why wars like that should be avoided at any cost.

This book does not accuse anyone of anything it only shows that wars happen just because a few people decided on it and not a country as a whole. This book is all about forgiveness and the willingness of one to survive even under the worst conditions.

Zlata's Diary by Zlata Filipovic (book review by Eleni)

Author: Zlata Filipovic
Release Date: February 1st 1994
Publisher: Viking Penguin
Pages: 208
Rating: 4 stars
Buy on: Amazon

In a voice both innocent and wise, touchingly reminiscent of Anne Frank's, Zlata Filipovic's diary has awoken the conscience of the world. Now thirteen years old, Zlata began her diary just before her eleventh birthday, when there was peace in Sarajevo and her life was that of a bright, intelligent, carefree young girl. Her early entries describe her friends, her new skis, her family, her grades at school, her interest in joining the Madonna Fan Club. And then, on television, she sees the bombs falling on Dubrovnik. Though repelled by the sight, Zlata cannot conceive of the same thing happening in Sarajevo. When it does, the whole tone of her diary changes. 

Review:

In my opinion you can really review a diary, a diary written by a little girl that had her childhood stolen from the cruelty of war. A lot of people have compared this diary to the Diary of Anne Frank and I have to agree to that. It's pretty much the same situations but different times, and that makes you think how can things like that happen today? How people go into war without even thinking of the consequences that it will have on children, to their country, to their world?

We see Zlata writing in her diary before the war broke out and all you can see is a happy kid, a kid listening to Michael Jackson, and Madonna, going to her friends homes , watching MTV and dreaming of rock stars and pop stars, we see a kid that he utmost concern is homework and all that change in an instant with the declaration of war.

War transforms a person from kind to cruel, from soft to hard, imagine the impact that it has to a 12 year old child, the damage it can create. Suddenly, Zlata changes and starts thinking about politics and worry about things that kids their age should not, either because they are too young to comprehend or because simply they have other fun stuff in their minds. We see Zlata growing up and get more serious, more worried about her family's safety and her own and its heart breaking.

Although, most of us can only read diaries like these we should try and prevent situations similar to what Zlata and Anne Frank went through to occur again. 

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (book review by Eleni)

Author: John Boyne
Release Date: September 12th 2006
Publisher: Fickling Books
Pages: 224
Rating: 3 stars
Buy on: Barnes and Noble

Berlin 1942

When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

REVIEW:

This is another book that I read during my experiment with World War 2 Literature and I have to say that I am little dissapointed. I made the mistake and watched the movie first before reading this book and usually the term ''the book is always better than the movie'' is true although it does not apply in this situation. The movie itself was not great but I expected the book to be for that reason only.

The first thing that I noticed was the writing of course. It was very good but no great but you get in the story pretty quickly. The author did a great job telling the story of a nine year old boy in Nazi Germany, son of an SS Officer , a boy who only wanted to explore everything, even the darkest corners of his home ,a boy sourounded by the world;s darkest time and humanities lowest point and be totally oblivious to what exactly was happening around him. 

When he moved with his family to Poland, a few kilometers from Auschwitz he could see the chimneys of the most notorious death camp and yet he simply could not comprehend what this was...for him it was a farm with people that were wearing pajamas all day and the only thing that he wanted to do was find new friends in this new ''neighborhood'' and play with them. Until he meets one of the boys in that ;;farm;;.

A story nicely told with a tint of sadness and a friendship evolving in the two different worlds with just a wired fence to separate them, a sad ending and message so well passed, this is a book that should stand along with other novels about the holocaust with the exception of a few mistakes by the author.

How can a boy growing up in Nazi Germany does not what Heil Hitler means and how can he possibly believe that this is a form of saying hello? How can the author refer to the English name of Auschwitz (out-with) when this book is supposed to be taking place in Germany - Poland and the main characters speak German? Also there are some plot holes in the story that there are not hard to pass but anyone can notice them. Due to those little mistakes the book loses some of its just thus the 3 stars.

Night by Ellie Wiesel (book review by Eleni)

Author: Ellie Wiesel
Release Date: January 1st 1958
Publisher: Hill and Wang
Series: Night #1
Pages: 120
Rating: 4 stars
Buy on: Amazon

A terrifying account of the Nazi death camp horror that turns a young Jewish boy into an agonized witness to the death of his family...the death of his innocence...and the death of his God. Penetrating and powerful, as personal as The Diary Of Anne Frank, Night awakens the shocking memory of evil at its absolute and carries with it the unforgettable message that this horror must never be allowed to happen again.

Review: 

While doing an experiment on reading books of WWII Death Camp survivor's accounts and memoirs I came across this little book and to be honest, this is the most memorable in comparison to the rest.

Like every autobiographical book, it starts with a little background on the authors life at the time and fast enough it progresses to the main events of the book - at this point the story turns into Nightmare.  Young Ellie was taken to Auschwitz - Birkenau in train vagons that were for animals - he and his family were treated like animals. Once in the death camp he is being separeted from his family and stays with his father and thats because an inmate warned them by telling them to lie about their ages.

From that point on we see the everyday life in Auschwitz - the nightmares those people had to go through, the starvation and the treatment they were receiving.The most important of all in this book is how a person changes - how war can change a human being from good to bad, from ethical to unethical. 

At some point in the book we actually read how Ellie wished his father was dead so he wouldn't bear his burden, how he was disgusted at himself a second later for thinking of it and how he realised that he was changed so much within those few months he was in the camp, but anyone would think that way, especially when you try to survive, when life becomes a struggle about your life and when you are willing to do anything to survive, sacrifice everything just to get alive from this nightmare.I felt so sad after reading this paragraph, so guilty for a reason I cannot comprehend.

The reason I gave this book 4 stars is because of the way the book is written, although I know that is is an abridged version of the book in comparison to the original one which is only available in Yiddish (the full version). I think the publisher went too far with cutting out shocking scenes from the book that it severed a lot the content and especially for those who wanted to read more and wanted more insight of Auschwitz. 

It;s a great account of the Holocaust that everyone should read.

Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino (book review by Eleni)

Author: Natsuo Kirino
Release Date: March 13th 2007 (1st published in 2003)
Publisher: Knopf
Pages: 480
Rating: 3 stars
Buy on: Amazon ,Barnes and Noble

Tokyo prostitutes Yuriko and Kazue have been brutally murdered, their deaths leaving a wake of unanswered questions about who they were, who their murderer is, and how their lives came to this end. As their stories unfurl in an ingeniously layered narrative, coolly mediated by Yuriko’s older sister, we are taken back to their time in a prestigious girls’ high school—where a strict social hierarchy decided their fates — and follow them through the years as they struggle against rigid societal conventions.

Shedding light on the most hidden precincts of Japanese society today,Grotesque is both a psychological investigation into the female psyche and a work of noir fiction that confirms Natsuo Kirino’s electrifying gifts.

Review:

This book confused me so much when it comes to the rating. It;s one of those books that belong in the in between and I really didn't know how to rate it. So I closed my eyes and gave it a 3. 

Like all Natsuo Kirino's books you get to see the story from multiple POV'S and I guess that's a good thing but not in Grotesque. At some point the narration becomes really boring while we get to know the background of Yuriko's murderer , and my opinion is that it was unnecessary for the author to do so in this book. I would like the book a lot better if it was based on two POV's instead of 3. It would me more mysterious and more fast paced and enjoyable rather than painful. Although , I wanted to commit suicide from boredom I couldn't put the book down because it was enjoyable from a whole different aspect...modern Japan.

While the main protagonist lives her life and tells the story of her sister Yuriko we get to see a Japan so much different than the cuteness and the happiness that we know. It's a Japan dark and grey where people judge from appearance and are nosy and above all they see mixed Japanese as ''bastards'' . You get to know the ''goods'' and bad's of prostitution and why people choose this kind of life. Kirino did a really good job with the writing in this one, although the translation had a lot of mistakes and at some points you couldn't make sense, blending fiction with reality in a book that was really intriguing and in the end sad. 

I didn;t enjoy this book as much I did with Out and Real World but I have to give it to her for her writing and the way she makes you see the real world people live in.

Onyx by Jennifer Armentrout (book review by Eleni)

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Release Date: August 14th 2012
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Series: Lux
Rating: 4 stars
Buy at: Amazon , Barnes and Noble

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.

Something worse than the Arum has come to town…

The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.

But then everything changes…

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…

Review:

As it usually happens with all good book series I immediately jumped from book 1 to book 2 in no time. I think I read this one within 6 hours or so and I am so so so excited.
It's been some time since the last time I actually read something so good that I had to devour it so quickly and to tell you the truth Onyx is one of my fav books.

Usually, when it comes to book series the second book tends to be the one where the couple separates or something happens to them...but that's not the case here...actually there was no couple to begin with. The author did more than an awesome job starving the readers for some romance and in this book we get rewarded finally!!! Katy is starting to realise that Daemon is not kidding with the whole I want you, I need you thing and starts to loosen up a little until she completely falls for him...in his embrace. They both keep secrets from Dee and Katy gets a little estranged from her because she wants to protect her until the inevitable happens. What happened in the end of the book I didn;t see it coming and I bet a lot of you wont either.

Meet Blake the new sexy guy at school that makes Katy act weird and date him....yup they went out together. As it turns out Blake has his own secrets and Daemon has a hard time trusting him with Katy.

The plot has a lot of twists and turns that I didn;t expect, things can be good and then turn ugly but that kept me reading because I was so excited about the unexpected. The writing is so intense and also you get to see the character's from a whole different perspective, it's just amazing because that doesn't happen really often.

Totally recommend it.

The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis (Book Review by Eleni)

Author: Antonia Michaelis
Release Date: January 1st 2012
Publisher: Amulet Books
Pages: 402
Rating: 5 stars
Buy at: Amazon , Barnes and Noble

Anna and Abel couldn’t be more different. They are both seventeen and in their last year of school, but while Anna lives in a nice old town house and comes from a well-to-do family, Abel, the school drug dealer, lives in a big, prisonlike tower block at the edge of town. Anna is afraid of him until she realizes that he is caring for his six-year-old sister on his own. Fascinated, Anna follows the two and listens as Abel tells little Micha the story of a tiny queen assailed by dark forces. It’s a beautiful fairy tale that Anna comes to see has a basis in reality. Abel is in real danger of losing Micha to their abusive father and to his own inability to make ends meet. Anna gradually falls in love with Abel, but when his “enemies” begin to turn up dead, she fears she has fallen for a murderer. Has she?

Review:

I have been staring the screen for half an hour now trying to come up with a review for this beautiful, heart wrecking book. I can't...so i will let everything out.

I had this book sitting lost in my nook library for like months now..I always passed it by without even thinking of reading it until i decided i should on those weird moments every bookworm has...grab a book any book and read. I never read the synopsis of books because i hate it. I just open a book and read and this time I was blown away.

It starts with blood and it finishes with blood...the in between is just a heart breaking story of a well bred girl falling in love with the school drug dealer and his cruel reality. The need to help and the need to be understood and loved goes beyond imagination in this story. Was she staying with him because it was something different and exciting to do or because he pitied him or because he loved him? Did she care about him or felt sorry for him and his little sister?

The answer to all those questions came towards the end of the book where Anna forgives the unforgivable act of Abel - then any reader can realize that if you love someone enough you forgive , you continue to care and put yourself second. The relationship between those two made me re-evaluate some things. Some things that I learned long ago and never actually thought about. 

This is one of the books that emotion swallows you full and you can't do anything but continue reading because you love the perfect made characters. Some readers said that they got annoyed with this book but i dont know what...for me it is a perfect read. A perfect depressing love story that will appeal to all the fans of Forbidden.

I loved how the fairytale can be mixed with reality and mystery in a love story so strong that Romeo and Juliet seem like kids love.  The translation seemed a little stiff but knowing German this is how it is supposed to be. The author did a good job with the usage of words and i guess the translator should get credit for it too. 

The Storyteller is one book I will never forget and probably go back to it at some point in the near future.

Slash by Slash and Anthony Bozza Book Review by Eleni

Author: Slash and Anthony Bozza
Release Date: Ocotber 30th 2007
Publisher: It books
Pages: 458
Rating: 5 stars
Buy on: Amazon , Barnes And Noble

From one of the greatest rock guitarists of our era comes a memoir that redefines sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll

Here, for the first time ever, Slash tells the tale that has yet to be told from the inside: how the band came together, how they wrote the music that defined an era, how they survived insane, never-ending tours, how they survived themselves, and, ultimately, how it all fell apart. This is a window onto the world of the notoriously private guitarist and a seat on the roller-coaster ride that was one of history's greatest rock 'n' roll machines, always on the edge of self-destruction, even at the pinnacle of its success. This is a candid recollection and reflection of Slash's friendships past and present, from easygoing Izzy to ever-steady Duff to wild-child Steven and complicated Axl.

It is also an intensely personal account of struggle and triumph: as Guns N' Roses journeyed to the top, Slash battled his demons, escaping the overwhelming reality with women, heroin, coke, crack, vodka, and whatever else came along.

He survived it all: lawsuits, rehab, riots, notoriety, debauchery, and destruction, and ultimately found his creative evolution. From Slash's Snakepit to his current band, the massively successful Velvet Revolver,Slash found an even keel by sticking to his guns.

Slash is everything the man, the myth, the legend, inspires: it's funny, honest, inspiring, jaw-dropping . . . and, in a word, excessive.

Review:

I am a huge fan of guns and roses and naturally of Slash. When this books got into my hands I started reading an amazing and hard to believe story of one of the hardest and toughest rock stars on this planet.

Since I am a huge fan I knew some things but I didn't know others. This book took me aback. 
Slash start the book with where he was born and a brief telling of his first years. He then moves on to live in England and how he remembers his parents and of course the big move to L.A. and how that and the fact that he grew up in the seventies changes his life dramatically.

From a very young age drugs, music and excessive alcohol drinking lead his to weird and scary situations. He took those habits with him through the years and he never stopped living on the edge. In comparison to Duff's memoir Slash was tells all about the ugly side of GNR and how each member of the band and what lead them to eventually estrange from each other. It seems that everyone wanted the same thing - to perform and be a great band - but no one stood up when Axl did what he did. I think Axl had a really good ego and took advantage of it when he knew that the alcohol induced band mates wont bat an eye or confront him for his actions. 

From page one of the book you can see that Slash was indeed a very clever man but he didn't always use his brain when he had too part because of the drugs that kept him in a haze...i have to say that in some parts some situations either were the wrong date or he wasnt quite sure about them. Slash himself said that he was using some of his agendas to state a few facts because he wasn't sure if something happened or not.

I would like to know more about the lawsuits for the rights and everything after GNR broke up and a lot more about Axl although Slash tries to do its best to excuse his weird and ego centered behavior by saying that ''I'm sure Axl had his reasons''. Of course as Duff said Axl could be more than a good friend with you if you took him on your good side but overall he was a very unpredictable person.

After the GNR years you can see how difficult it was for Slash to create another band and how everything went to hell after the industry changed in the late 90's. Also you can see that those people were used a lot from the industry because simply they were dollar machines. The book describes the process of the creation of Velvet Revolver and how difficult it was for them to find a singer that fits with the group.

Both Slash and Anthony Bozza did a great job with writing the book and making it ''sound'' like Slash. It was a book of almost 500 big pages and small little letters it drove me crazy to finish it but I loved every bit of it.

I wouldnt recommend this book to a kid under 14 due to strong language and mature situations.

Clockwork Princess by Cassadra Clare book review by Eleni

Author: Cassandra Clare
Release Date: March 19th 2013
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
Series: The Infernal Devices
Pages: 565
Rating: 5 stars
Buy on: Amazon , Barnes and Noble

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

Tessa Gray should be happy – aren't all brides happy? Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shaodwhunters of the London Institute. 

A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her. 

Review:
Okay, here we go. It took me two whole days to come up with a review for this...book. This book that tore my heart in two and made me so freaking angry and made me lost it totally..is one of the greatest books I ever read on this genre.

I wont spoil anything at all but what I will say to you is that go buy, download, loan whatever this book right now and start reading. It will drive you crazy and i have to say that you will be pulling your hair with utmost despair.

The characters are all the same and the story starts from where it was left on the Clockwork Prince and then everything goes to hell literally. Tessa is about to marry Jem and the rest of the Shadowhunters try to figure out what to do with the infamous Mortmain. Suddenly, when everything is going bad Will comes up with the news that there is no yin fen for purchase anymore due to the fact that Mortmain bought everything. And the downfall starts.

I really hated the fact that Clare had to totally tear her characters apart in this book and have everyone suffer as much as possible - with the only exception of Will who suffers a lot more than the others. Tessa has found herself in a love triangle again but this time the weight goes towards Will - but wait..she is not sure. I dont know how Clare did this but Tessa gave me the impression (Again) that she was trying to convince herself that she loved Jem, although we all know that she loves Will.

I cant say how much i wanted to cry when Jem was dying and when Will talked to him about some things. How both of them love each other and how each one of them would sacrifice himself for the other. This 10 pages were the most emotional in the whole book. Clare did a good job with words again. She gave a great description of how the bond of a parabatai ends and how it really feels. It was just heartbreaking and amazing.

I want to make a huge spoiler but i cant because i told you i wont but towards the end of the book all of you will get a huge shock. I thought i would die because what happened goes beyond imagination and seriously i think that what happened is a huge slap in the face for Jem...poor, kind Jem but for that part and only i am so glad that i read the book.

In the whole book what i DID NOT LIKE AT ALL IS THE EPILOGUE. Seriously??? 15 pages for 130 years of life????Okay i have to say that some lines made me tear up and think about it after i finished the book and i have to give that to Clare -she can make you cry with just one line. But what really happened in the last 4 pages is what made me so angry. What happens is kinda weird when it comes to honor and respect and also She leaves you with the impression that there's gonna be more but i dont think it will be more. Agh!!!!

Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Princess is one of my favorite books now and i will return to it sometime in the future.

It's So Easy and Other Lies by Duff McKagan book review by Eleni

Author: Duff McKagan
Release Date: October 4th 2011
Publisher: Touichstone
Pages: 366
Rating: 5 stars
Buy At: Barnes and Noble , Amazon.

''A founding member of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver shares the story of his rise to the pinnacle of fame and fortune, his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction, his personal crash and burn, and his phoenix-like transformation via a unique path to sobriety.

In 1984, at the age of twenty, Duff McKagan left his native Seattle—partly to pursue music but mainly to get away from a host of heroin overdoses then decimating his closest group of friends in the local punk scene. In L.A. only a few weeks and still living in his car, he answered a want ad for a bass player placed by someone who identified himself only as “Slash.” Soon after, the most dangerous band in the world was born. Guns N’ Roses went on to sell more than 100 million albums worldwide.

In It's So Easy, Duff recounts GN’R’s unlikely trajectory to a string of multiplatinum albums, sold-out stadium concerts, and global acclaim. But that kind of glory can take its toll, and it did—ultimately—on Duff, as well as on the band itself. As GN’R began to splinter, Duff felt that he himself was done, too. But his near death as a direct result of alcoholism proved to be his watershed, the turning point that led to his unique path to sobriety and the unexpected choices he has made for himself since. In a voice that is as honest as it is indelibly his own, Duff—one of rock’s smartest and most articulate personalities—takes readers on his harrowing journey through the dark heart of one of the most notorious bands in rock-and-roll history and out the other side.''

Review:

I don't know what to say about this book or the author. Duff Fucking McKagan has been a huge inspiration to me since my early teens. Guns N' Roses is my favorite rock band and i love all the members but a little more Duff. I always knew that rock has to do with drugs but that was something else. To be honest i never read anything like that in my entire life. Neon Angel by Cherrie Currie is not even close to the things described in this book.

When i started the book i didn't know what to expect, i just wanted to read about Guns N Roses and the life they led before they become famous and its true that Duff did a great job with describing his early childhood/teen years and how everything shaped around the name of GNR. I was surprised from a lot of things and i needed more and more and more. I loved the way he wrote.

As the book progressed we could see how deep in addiction Duff and his bandmates fell and how fame and money eventually changed everything. How the band mates got estranged from each other and how a certain member suffered from megalomania which resulted in the band to eventually split in 1997. Although the book answered a lot of questions it created new ones and at some points i found myself screaming Why????

I would loved to have read a little more descriptive situations and especially about the fallout between Axl and Slash. For obvious reasons there is no sex scene descriptions in the whole book (im sure no rock star would want their daughters read about their fathers um....experiences (?)).

I was amazed on how Duff got out of the cocaine-alcohol addiction pit and did his best to recover and how to this day he is still suffering from his past. Although i think Duff doesnt realize it he got out from one addiction with another - exercising and i think although this is kind of healthy it can also destroy you if you are not careful. 

The book also focuses on the musical career of Duff before and after GNR and the differences that he saw. How people accepted him back then and how they accept him now - everything is easy when you are a legend.

Duff did a great job with a book and i would totally recommend it to any GNR fan out there and not only.