Book Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

About the Book:

It's Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the Dursleys have been so horrible to Harry that all he can think about is getting back to Hogwarts and to his best friends Ron and Hermione. Just as the time starts getting closer, he receives an ominous warning from a house elf named Dobby. Dobby tells Harry Potter that if he returns to school that something disastrous would happen.

Harry ignores Dobby's warnings and manages to get to Hogwarts only to find that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, is a complete snob; Ron Weasley's little sister Ginny has a crush on him, and he discoveres a spirit that haunts the girl's bathroom named Moaning Myrtle.

These are minor compared to the someone or something that starts terrorizing the school by petrifying some of the occupants of Hogwarts Castle. Could this someone be Malfoy, a boy who seems rather evil and a rival of Harry's; could it be Hagrid with his love of the most beastly beasts in the magical world, or could it be Harry Potter himself?


My Thoughts:

I'm a big fan of Harry Potter, but I have a confession... I haven't read all the books. So,  I decided to start reading them and seeing if they change my view from the movies. The movie based on this book follows along so well with the book with just a few minor details changed around a bit and they're not even noticeable really. I enjoyed reading about Gilderoy Lockhart even though I really wouldn't like to meet him in person. He's really full of himself and thinks he knows everything there is to know about magic.... the actor in the movie portrayed Lockhart really well. You get to know more about Ron and his family. Ron's family seems to be the kind of family I would like to know and be friends with, unlike Harry's aunt, uncle, and cousin. I enjoyed every part of this book and I wouldn't mind reading this book over and over again. If you're like me and have just mainly watched the movies, then I highly suggest that you read the books as well.

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

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Book Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

About the Book: 

Tally is about to turn 16, but surprisingly, she's not excited about getting a driver's license. She's excited to finally be turning pretty. In Tally's world, turning 16 means that you get an operation to become stunningly beautiful. You're no longer an ugly outcast. In this world, being pretty means that your only job is to party and have a great time. Until Tally meets another girl who shares the same birthday as her, she thought that everyone couldn't wait until they became pretty.

Shay doesn't think that she wants to become pretty and she tells Tally her plans of running away and when Shay does run away, Tally gets to see a different side of the pretty world and it isn't very good. That's when Tally is given a choice by the authorities: Find Shay and return her, or never turn pretty... ever.


My Thoughts:

Uglies is such an amazing read. I love any kind of dystopian type story and the world of uglies and pretties is so very interesting. It kind of reminds me about today's society and everyone wishing that they looked like a certain supermodel or actress/actor. The difference between now and in this dystopian future is that there's an even more sinister thing about being pretty. It's not as amazing as most might think. In my opinion, being a pretty seems to be rather boring with the endless parties, getting drunk, and your worst problem would be on trying to figure out what to wear to said parties. Sure, everyone wants to be told that they are beautiful and they want to be admired for it, but I'm sure most people would get tired of that kind of thing easily. Also, with what being pretty means in this world, I would rather pass and continue my life as an ugly. 

I felt like I really got to know these characters and despite the setting being in the far future, I felt like I could relate to them based on their premise of everyone wanting to be pretty and not wanting to be ugly. I believe that everyone wants to feel like they fit in with the 'it' crowd at some point in their lives and this is a great book at showing you that it's not always the best place to be. 

I really enjoyed reading this novel and I can't wait to see what happens in the next!

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

You can purchase Uglies by Scott Westerfeld by clicking the links below.

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Book Review: Innkeeper's Daughter by Marie Ferrarella

About the Book:

Wyatt Taylor is a screenwriter whose father has died. His father was writing a book on his best friend's family-owned inn, Ladera Inn by the Sea. The inn is about 100 years old and Wyatt promised to finish the book for his father and for Richard, the inn's owner, because they were like family.

The only person that would cause any problems for him would be Richard's daughter, Alexandra Roman or Alex for short. They've been adversaries since childhood. He doesn't expect her to be as caring as she is when he arrives to arrange his father's funeral at the inn.

Alex just wants Wyatt to get his book done and to be gone and out of her hair, but she does hold some sympathy for him since she knows what it's like to have a parent die. Her mother had died twelve years ago.

One surprising thing happened though, Wyatt and Alex shared a kiss and then everything changed.


My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed reading this book. It's not a very long book with only 360 pages. It's a Harlequin novel from the Heartwarming series and it's a large print book. It's a wholesome, tender romance with a great story. I feel as if I really got to know Alex and Wyatt. They were really in-depth characters. The only thing that I take issue with is that the novel didn't seem like it had a complete ending. At least, it wasn't really all that satisfying to me. For a couple of people who had animosity built up since childhood, it would seem like it would have a much more profound ending than it actually did. That did not make the reading of the novel any less enjoyable, thankfully.

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


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Book Review: The One Year Devos for Teen Girls by Dannah Gresh and Susan Weibel

About the Book:

The One Year Devos for Teen Girls by Dannah Gresh and Susan Weibel is a book written especially for teen girls and what they face at this time in their lives in this modern age. Dannah and Suzy share biblical wisdom for all days of the year and even challenge the girls to do an Action Step at the end of each page to ensure growth with God. There's advice on tattoos, piercings, family issues, anger, sexuality, and more.


What I thought:

Even though I do not have a teen daughter, I'm barely out of my teens myself. I'm a 20-year-old woman who found great clarity and very sound advice from this book. Most of the stuff in this book, I really wish I had heard before I started high school! The advice in this book is great for any girl from their teens and beyond. I found myself becoming closer to God and understanding why and how he wants us to obey Him. As a young woman myself, I was slowly, but surely growing away from God, but I decided to sign up to receive this book to review and I felt myself being acquainted back with God and realizing what I was missing! I would definitely recommend this book for any girl who is a teenager, any parent who has a teenage girl in their lives, or if you're a young woman who just needs to get closer to God.

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





Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge for an honest review by Tyndale Blog Network. 

Book Review: World War Z by Max Brooks

What It's About:

This is a collection of interviews. Max Brooks interviews people who were in the middle of the war and gets their story on what happened in that part of the world during the outbreak of zombies roaming the Earth.


What I thought:

I found this book to be quite intriguing. Some of the interviews were scary, sad, and just... crazy. I enjoyed reading it and I have to say that I'm a big scaredy cat and I was terrified that zombies were going to start jumping through my windows. I can't help but to be a huge zombie fan though. This book didn't exactly have all the terrifying things you'd expect in a zombie book and it doesn't follow along any main characters or anything, but I don't think you'd be disappointed. The interviews are in chronological order, in that they all start out by stating what happened in the beginning and as the book continues, the interviews start to get deeper into what had all happened during the war with zombies. It had more of a documentary feel to it.

There are mentions of new technology in warfare to kill zombies and how they used dogs in the war against zombies by having them sniff out the infection in humans that hadn't reanimated yet. I would hope that if there ever was a zombie outbreak that the leaders of the countries around the world would have read this book to get a good look at how to control the situation before the world would be overrun with the undead!

I would recommend this book to anyone who's a fan of zombies and to anyone who likes documentaries.

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

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Book Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

What this book is about:

It's Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. The clever and beautiful wife, Amy goes missing on this same day. At first, everyone thinks someone broke in and kidnapped her, but then things take a nasty turn when the evidence starts to point toward Nick. Even though nick does seem to be a bit unemotional and detached from what's going on, does that automatically make him a killer? Everyone in town seems to think that he could have done this, but he swears that he's innocent.

Thoughts:

This was a very interesting read. At the beginning of the story, I didn't really much care for Nick or for Amy. They seemed like people who I definitely wouldn't get along with, but that didn't make me want to put this book down. I was sucked in from the beginning and then, boy there was the TWIST in the storyline and I was like an addict. I had to see what was going to happen next. How was this story going to end? I was up late at night reading just so I could get that much closer to seeing what would happen. I couldn't believe how crazy Amy was! She was a freaking psycho! I definitely couldn't see how anyone could stand her. But I guess, Nick and Amy were basically meant for each other. By the end of the book, I was almost literally exhausted from the crazy ride. I've never read anything quite like this book and I'd definitely want to read more from this author in the future. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested to know what the heck I'm babbling about and wants to see what all the fuss is over this crazy thriller of a book. 

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

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Book Review: Assured Destruction by Michael F. Stewart

This book is about a teenage girl named Janus Rose who is a hacker. She works at a shop that recycles and destroys computer hard drives. She has a secret though, she doesn't always destroy the hard drives that customers give her. She keeps them and creates social networking profiles for the hard drives by using the information she finds. The network she creates with these characters is called Shadownet As you can imagine, doing something like that can get a person in BIG trouble.

Things start to happen to the real people that these characters are based off of and Janus realizes the mistake she has made by creating Shadownet. Hopefully, she can make amends before something really terrible happens to someone.


I really enjoyed reading this book. Janus is a strong female character who is very tech savvy, which is a great respite from the usual female characters in many stories that I've read. I love that she's very intelligent and not exactly all boy crazy, but that's not to say that she doesn't have a interest in anyone though. There's a bit of suspense, some drama, and a little dash of teenage romance in the mix of this story.

I loved getting to know Janus and the other characters in this book. Janus really had a lot of depth and I could believe that she was an actual human being rather than some stereotype of a person. I'm sure there will be more in store for the rest of the characters along with Janus as this is a series.

I would recommend this book to any fans of computers, spy stories, and anyone who enjoys reading a story about a strong female character. This book is basically for anyone who enjoys a good story.

Overall, I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars!

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P.S. The next book in the series is called Script Kiddie and will be published in August of this year!