Review: The Amazing Book is Not in Fire

The Amazing Book is Not on Fire 
Dan Howell and Phil Lester
224 pages (Hardcover)
Random House
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes&Noble

Blurb: 
Hello reader,

In this book is a world. A world created by two awkward guys who share their lives on the internet!

We are Dan and Phil and we invite you on a journey inside our minds! From the stories of our actual births, to exploring Phil's teenage diary and all the reasons why Dan's a fail.

Learn how to draw the perfect cat whiskers, get advice on what to do in an awkward situation and discover which of our dining chairs represents you emotionally. With everything from what we text each other, to the time we met One Direction and what really happened in Vegas...

Review:
To start this off, I've been and fan of Dan and Phil for six years now. I follow them on YouTube and when they announced that they were writing a book together I was ecstatic! It came out a week after my birthday and I bought it as a gift to myself. I finished it in a night. I've debated whether or not I should review it, and finally figured I should. 

The book itself is a jumble of their personalities. It starts with them saying hello in the only way they know how - awkwardly. They story is all about their lives: how they grew up, secondary school,university, living together, and their YouTube careers. 

I honestly enjoyed this book. Most times when people hear a YouTuber is writing a book they roll their eyes at the thought. Dan and Phil keep their writing real and interesting. They don;t try and hide themselves from readers, but rather welcome them, They embrace their own weirdness and I believe that is what makes them relatable. 

If you are looking for a funny read that may cause a little bit of secondhand embarrassment, then you'll enjoy this book. It helps you realize not everything you have done is the most cringe worth, as Dan normally has that covered. 

Overall, I give this book a level four hangover out of five. 

Interested in purchasing this book? Check the links above!

Review: Alice's Adventures Under Ground

Alice's Adventures Under Ground 
Lewis Carrol
128 pages (Hardcover)
Cider Mill Press
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes&Noble

Blurb: 
In celebration of the story's 150th anniversary, this elegant new collectors edition of Alice's Adventures Underground features never-before-seen drawings from renowned artist Charles Santore, and an introduction by revered literary scholar, Michael Patrick Hearn.

When Lewis Carroll first put pen to paper and wrote what would become Alice in Wonderland, he provisionally titled the story Alice's Adventures Under Ground and accompanied the text with sketches to bring his story to life. Now, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the books first publication in 1865, we are publishing that original story, in a faithful and unabridged adaptation, under its original title. Like that first hand-written draft, this stunning new collectors edition features never-before-seen drawings throughout the story by celebrated New York Times bestselling artist Charles Santore (The Wizard of Oz, The Night Before Christmas), and an introduction from the premier authority on childrens literature, Michael Patrick Hearn.

Review:
I am going to start off by saying that I am a huge fan of anything relates to Alice in Wonderland. Books and music inspired by the story always holds a draw for me, and I'm rarely disappointed by the movies either. That being said, I adored this book.

Alice's Adventures Under Ground is the original story that was told to Alice Liddell l, far before it was expanded in order to make the book large enough to be successfully published. Here it has been revived. While the story lacks many of the signature characters, such as the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat, it still contains that same charm as the final Alice story.

What truly makes this book remarkable however is the sketches that go along with the story. Charles Santore's drawings are perfect to go with the story and I found myself studying them again and again. I cannot wait to the the fully finished paintings that these sketches were the precursors to.

I would recommend this especially to other fans of a Alice in Wonderland like myself, as well as anyone looking to read a short classic story with interesting artwork to go along with it.

Overall I am going to give it a level four out of five hangover.

 Interested in purchasing this book? Check out the links above!

Review: Divinity

Divinity 
Patrica Leever
200 pages (Paperback)
Omnific Publishing
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes&Noble


Blurb: 
Demons.

They’re everywhere, hiding in plain sight. Chances are, you’ve interacted with one or two of them in your lifetime without even realizing it...

Demon hunter Evelyn Brighton saves unsuspecting humans from the malevolent creatures masquerading around them every day. Working under the Lebriga Corporation’s direction, she never fails to bring her A-game with her keen skill, fiercely independent spirit, and the best weapon in her arsenal: the Divinity blade.

Evelyn’s world is turned on its ear, however, when she is ordered to train cocky new recruit Daniel Summers. They both feel an instinctive pull drawing them to one another, the ancient spells tattooed into their skin illuminating whenever the two hunters come into contact. But with evil looming over the city of Los Angeles, Evelyn and Daniel’s mutual competitiveness and sense of duty to Lebriga and all humankind forces them to hold back their desires. Will their restraint be enough to keep them focused and save southern California, or will the dark forces prevail?

Set in modern-day Los Angeles, Divinity is an action-filled, fast-paced marriage of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Edgy, witty, and sexy, it will bind you in its spell.
 
Review: 
I had been meaning to read Divinity by Patrica Leever for sometime now but had never found the opportunity to do so. Excitingly enough, I got a Nook this weekend, giving me the perfect reason to download a new book and read it in one go on my fancy new reading gadget.

Divinity is about a world full of demons and focuses on the gifted hunters that are out to protect the human race from all of the nastiness in the world. It was a quick-paced, short read that introduced its world and characters quickly before moving on with the plot. However, while I found many of the characters interesting and I was sometimes very pleased with the relationships between different characters, such as the different couples or the relationships between hunters and handlers, the speed of the story left something to be desired with the depth of knowledge and emotional feelings that I had for the characters.

The other issue in it for me was that the love relationship between the two main characters, Evelyn and Daniel, developed much too quickly. I normally thoroughly enjoy when couple are 'fated' for each other, however this felt too fast for me and ridiculously unbelievable. While very little actually happened between the couple until later in the book, the surety they had at times was too unrealistic for me.

What I did enjoy was the world that these characters lived in. The magic that was brought to life in the story was unique and very interesting.

The story was also told split between Evelyn's and Daniel's points of view. Sometimes this is a major flop in some books but it worked very well in this case, as it allowed me to see both sides of the story and to get more detail that I would have otherwise.

I would recommend this to people who are looking for a short and quick, yet fun, paranormal read.

Overall, I give this a hangover level three out of five.

Interested in purchasing the book? Check links above!

Review: Project Cain

Project Cain
Geoffrey Girad
341 pages (Hardcover) 
Simon & Schuster BFYR
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes&Noble
 
Blurb:
Sixteen-year-old Jeff Jacobson had never heard of Jeffrey Dahmer, the infamous serial killer who brutally murdered seventeen people more than twenty years ago. But then Jeff discovers he was constructed in a laboratory only eight years ago, part of a top-secret government cloning experiment called Project CAIN. And scientists created him entirely from Jeffrey Dahmer's DNA.

Jeff isn't the only teenage serial-killer clone. Others have been genetically engineered using the DNA of the Son of Sam, the Boston Strangler, and Ted Bundy. Some clones were raised, like Jeff, in caring family environments; others within homes that mimicked the horrific early lives of the serial killers they were created from.

When the most dangerous of the boys are set free, the summer of killing begins. Worse, they hold a secret weapon even more deadly than the terrible evil they carry within.

Can Jeff help catch the "monsters" before becoming one himself?

Review:
This is one of those books that I had been anxiously awaiting a long time ago. It came out, I bought it in pure excitement, and then put it on my nightstand to be read after I finished the several that I was in the middle of.  Somehow, miracle of miracles, I am actively reading my way through my back-logged to-be-read pile this summer. Top of the list: Project Cain.

The premise of this story was one that interested me to no end. Serial killers? Sign me up! (As long as they stay in the pages.) And the added mixture of cloning to the plot sounded like it would add a unique twist. This also interested the Biology major in me. The question of how much nature and nurture each have to do with the way a person turns out is such an engaging question that I couldn't imagine not enjoying this book. For the most part I was correct.

The story was fast-paced and full of action toward the end. However, two things held me up a bit. Firstly, there was a lot of soul searching and inner monologue, especially in the beginning of the book. While it made sense, as the main character,  Jeff  (as in the clone of Jeffery Dahmer), found out he was not a normal boy but was in fact a clone. Unfortunately I was not really in an inner journey sort of mood. The second thing that I wasn't overly fond of was the way the dialogue was written. Girard wrote it in a style that was meant to hopefully be engaging to young readers, in particularly boys. While the style, full of short sentences and lists did contribute to the fast pace of the novel, I disliked that quotation marks weren't used. It threw me of a bit and I never really adjusted to it.
Another thing that I struggled a bit with was that the characters didn't excite me. Jeff struggled with his identity for the majority of the novel and some of the other characters fell flat due the journal-like format of the story. The growth of the other characters was lacking and there relationships to the main character were hard to understand.

However, one thing I loved about this was the amount of research that was clearly put into the novel. The number of facts and statistics were nearly overwhelming. It some other reviews I had seen that many people considered the book to much of an info-dump, but I enjoyed the conspiracies and theories, all born of fact. Besides, as the story is only written from the point of view of Jeff I can only imagine a bit of info-dump as the main character was thrown into this plot with all of the information flying at his

Overall, the story was a really intriguing concept that needed to be more finely tuned in some places in order to more emotionally involve the reader. (It is however possible that the adult version of this novel, Cain's Blood, would appeal to me more.)

I give this story a hangover level of 3 out of 5.

Interested in purchasing the book? Check out the links above!