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Friday, March 21, 2014

Book Review: Flawless (Pretty Little Liars #2) by Sara Shepard



About The Book

In the exclusive town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, where the sweetest smiles hide the darkest secrets, four pretty little liars - Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna -- have been very bad girls....

Spencer stole her sister's boyfriend. Aria is brokenhearted over her English teacher. Emily likes her new friend Maya... as much more than a friend. And Hanna's obsession with looking flawless is literally making her sick. But the most horrible secret of all is something so scandalous it could destroy their perfect little lives.

And someone named "A" is threatening to do just that.

At first they thought A was Alison, their friend who vanished three years ago... but then Alison turned up dead. So could A be Melissa, Spencer's ultra-competitive sister? Or Maya, who wants Emily all to herself? What about Toby, the mysterious guy who left town right after Alison went missing?

One thing's for certain: A's got the dirt to bury them alive, and with every crumpled note, wicked IM, and vindictive text message A sends, the girls get a little closer to losing it all.


My Thoughts

I am addicted. I absolutely love this series so far! In the first book, everyone thought A was Alison and now they think that A is Toby. I've been watching the TV show along with reading these books as well and I've probably come across things in the show that I didn't know happened in the books yet, but I don't think anything has been spoiled for me a single bit. I'm enjoying both mediums so far. I was kind of shocked at how soon the stuff with Toby came about in the books though. Thankfully, no one has found out who A is in the book or TV show. The characters have a lot of depth and I feel like I'm getting to know these girls very personally as if they were my own friends. Also, I kind of use the people in the TV show whenever I read, even though their descriptions in the book are a bit different. It doesn't take away the awesome characters' personalities though. I really love the names of the chapters because they're all sassy as if I'm reading Alison's  or A's diary or something. I also love the fact that each chapter is in the perspective of either Spencer, Aria, Emily, or Hanna. That's how you get to know each character so well, I think. This second book really carries on the mystery of what happened to Alison and why a person who calls him/herself A is blackmailing and harassing these girls, but there's many, many more books in this series so of course we've just hit the tip of the iceberg. I'm enjoying chipping away at it though and can't wait to start reading the next book!

Overall, I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars! 


You can purchase this book by clicking the links below.

E-book Version





Paperback Version

Friday, March 14, 2014

Book Review: Confident Faith by Mark Mittelberg











Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for an honest review.

About the Book

Don't let doubt or objections intimidate you! In this book, Mark Mittelberg will help you to be more confident in your faith and help you to share what you learn with your skeptical friends and/or questioning family members. In the beginning of the book is a questionnaire for you to do called FAITH PATH QUESTIONNAIRE. You answer the questions and it helps you to understand how you came to your beliefs and what the pros and cons are with your path. Then, you'll get to the part of the book called TWENTY ARROWS OF TRUTH, which shows reasons from science, logic, archaeology, experience, and facts related to the Bible that will help you trust Christianity. After that section, you'll come to the part called TEN BARRIERS TO BELIEF, which helps to overcome obstacles that keep you from a confident faith.


My Thoughts

I was far from having a confident faith. I've questioned my belief in God a few times and I've asked myself why I believe in Christianity. I've stopped believing at one point in my life and decided that there was no God, he wasn't real. I'm glad I read this book. It really addressed all the questions and concerns that I had about my faith. I love the fact that the author listed some books at the end to further the reading of building a confidence in your faith. He also cites where he's received the information he talks about in the book. The questionnaire in the beginning is really interesting and it helped me to understand how I approached my faith and I was able to understand how to be more confident in my faith by the end because of this. This book was really eye-opening to me and helped me to really see what I was doing wrong that kept me from being confident in Christianity. It's inspired me to be an even better Christian and it's made me a more confident Christian as well. I would recommend this book to anyone who's seeking the truth about Christianity and for anyone who has doubts and questions about their beliefs.

Overall, I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars.


You can purchase this book by clicking the links below.

E-book Version





Paperback Version


Saturday, March 8, 2014

Book Review: Pretty Little Liars #1 by Sara Shepard





About The Book


Three years ago, Alison disappeared after a slumber party, not to be seen since. Her friends at the elite Pennsylvania school mourned her, but they also breathed secret sighs of relief. Each of them guarded a secret that only Alison had known. Now they have other dirty little secrets, secrets that could sink them in their gossip-hungry world. When each of them begins receiving anonymous emails and text messages, panic sets in. Are they being betrayed by someone in their circle? Worse yet: Is Alison back?


My Thoughts


I didn't used to be into this murder mystery/crime story genre, but after I watched a bit of the Pretty Little Liars show and found out that it was based on a series of novels, I just had to check out the books! I'm in love with the books as well as the show! The author does a great job with introducing each character and you can differentiate between the characters really well. They each have their own thing going on and they have their own distinct personalities. The only real thing they seem to have in common is that they were friends with Alison DiLaurentis. It's very suspenseful and I just had to keep turning the pages to see what havoc A would cause next. The characters are so life-like that I wonder what it would be like to be friends with these girls.... it would probably be terrifying if I started to receive weird texts from an anonymous person though. The story flows along smoothly and I can keep up with what's going on with all these characters. I will say that the show is a bit different from these books because some of the traits that are found in the books about Aria Montgomery, Hannah Marin, Spencer  Hastings, and Emily Fields are different in the show. I don't believe that this causes any problems with the story in either medium though. I'm sure anyone who enjoys the books will enjoy the TV show and vice versa.  I recommend this book to anyone who loves mystery/crime novels and to anyone who likes reading books about teenage girls.


Overall, I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars.


You can purchase this book by clicking the links below.



E-book Version






Print Paperback Version

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green




About The Book

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

My Thoughts

This is the first and only book that I've read by John Green. Some people might be astounded by that fact, and I can now see why. The Fault in Our Stars is beautifully written and I've fallen in love with Hazel and Gus. I even like Gus's friend Isaac. These characters are teenagers afflicted with a horrible thing called cancer, but they don't let that stop them from living or loving. They enjoy their lives even though they know that their days are numbered... because they know their days are numbered. I think that's what I like most about this book. The characters just keep living the best way they can and that's all you can ask of anyone. It was refreshing to read a book about people with cancer that isn't all about the fact that they have cancer. I do understand why a few people have said that they didn't really like the characters of this book. They said that Hazel and Gus were too pretentious and didn't act like any teenager they knew. I disagree with that assessment. Hazel and Gus are lovers of words. They love to read books and it would make sense that they'd love to use the words that they've learned from books. They aren't like other teenagers because they're more interested in books written by older people with more sophisticated vocabulary than most teenagers possess. I believe that Hazel and Gus would love reading the books that a lot of teenagers hate to read these days such as classics by Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves YA romance novels and to anyone who is a lover of words.



Overall, I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars. 

You can purchase this book by clicking the links below.

E-book Version










Print Hardcover Version