Review: Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas

Catwoman has always been one of my favorite villains, thanks to Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns and Halle Barry. I was excited to read this and I was not exactly disappointed but I was not amazed with this book either. The story is great, but I wanted more of Selina Kyle's time with the League of Assassins. I highly enjoyed reading about Poison Ivy and would be freaking pumped if the publishers or whoever decided to make a DC Icons book 5 on Poison Ivy. Also, Batwing was very corny and Luke Fox was a miss for me. He didn't bring anything to the story. His background with the Marines was generic and he was basically riding the coat tails of Bruce Wayne/ Batman.

Overall the plot was amazing. I loved the League of Assassins/ Harley Quinn/ Poison Ivy. I just think that there should have been more to Selina's background before and during the League of Assassins.

If you love the show Arrow, then you have to read this book.

Review: Lost Crow Conspiracy by Rosalyn Eves

I am so happy to have finally read this book. I have been wanting to read it since it came out last year in January, but I just never got around to it because i was reading other things. I was so happy to be back in this world and in the lives of Anna and Gabor and all of the Praetheria. It did take me a couple chapters to remember all that had happened in the first book that I read over two years ago.

Anna is in Austria with her newly wedded sister Catherine and her brother in law Richard. The binding being broken has put everyone in a tizzy and some of the Luminate or high powered families have lost their magic, while the lower class citizens are gaining magic.

Nobody knows that Anna is the one that broke the binding. Gabor is working with a Hungarian financial minister and Anna and Gabor finally see each other again after 8 months and they still have love for each other and I freaking swooned.

Anna is carrying the weight of breaking the binding and killing Matyas to do it. We also get to meet the King of Crows and how he is chosen because he is a Taltos to stop the impending war that the praetheria are bringing to the humans. 

Review: The Road To Woodbury by Robert Kirkman

I am done with book 2 in The Walking Dead series and I flew through it. I liked this one much better than the first because we followed a whole new group of characters and it was a page turner. We follow this new group being in a "tent" city, and then getting kicked out over the guy Josh trying to keep Lilly from being murdered by the leader of this tent city because his daughter got attacked by a zombie while under Lilly's supervision. Those two plus a doctor and Lilly's best friend and her stoner boyfriend leave and they hunker down in a gas station. after a debacle at the gas station they really start there journey towards Woodbury by stopping and raiding a Wal-Mart.

I liked these characters so much better. Bob is similar to the TV series Bob. I don't really remember him because that was season 3 or 4 and they have the same characteristics with the military background and the drinking.

My hatred towards the Governor grew even more and it kind of felt like the real Philip and not Brian pretending to be Philip. I don't think people could change that drastically and change from being wimpy and nauseated to shoot a gun to severing heads and having them in a fish tank and raping a girl. He has taken over Philip's life and calling Penny his daughter and his sister in law his wife.

It shows that Brian may have been a sociopath or psychopath all along. 

Review: Rise of the Governor by Robert Kirkman

I have finally read the first book of this series after wanting to start it back in October of last year and putting it on February's TBR. With this month being a catch up month for me, I made my bind up of books 1 and 2 my priority and picked it up first.

Now, I am a huge fan of The Walking Dead, but I almost quit watching the show in the 4th season because I hated the Governor so much. And when I found out there were novelizations of The Walking Dead, I wanted to read them even if they are about the Governor.

We follow a group that consists of Philip, Brian, Penny, Nick and Bobby. Philip is the younger brother and the leader of the group. Brian is his timid and weak older brother. Penny is of course Philip's daughter and Nick and Bobby are Philip's childhood buddies. They first hole up in a rich estate with mansions and a whole bunch of biters around. They have to make their way to Atlanta because that is where they have been told that is where the refugee centers are located. If you have watched The Walking Dead, then you know that the city of Atlanta is now home to millions of zombies.

They eventually run into three survivors named April, Tara and their dad David. They eventually try to settle down in the apartments, but something happens between Philip and April. It all goes down hill from there.

This book is very character driven and it has a lot of scientific terminology when it comes to talking about smashing brains in and which party of the brain was hit and the details were freaking gory as hell. The ending was also surprising and was not expecting that plot twist.

One of the things that I think would be a whole lot better is if the titles of this book and book 2 were switched. This wasn't exactly the rise of a governor, it was the journey to finding Woodbury.

BLOG TOUR: Kazu Jones and the Denver Dognappers by Shauna Holyoak

I am excited to be the first to kick off the Rockstar Book Tours blog tour for Shauna Holyoak's debut middle grade novel.

Title: KAZU JONES AND THE DENVER DOGNAPPERS

Author: Shauna Holyoak

Pub. Date: April 23, 2019

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 320

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, Kobo, iBooks, TBD

SUMMARY: Packed with high stakes mystery and tons of heart, this first installment in a new series introduces Kazu Jones-a spunky, scrappy detective who's this generation's Harriet the Spy.

When a string of dognappings grips her Denver neighborhood, Kazu Jones vows to track down the culprits. She can't stand to see more dogs go missing-especially once her neighbors' beloved pet is taken because of her gigantic mistake.

With the help of her gang-including her best friend and expert hacker, March; and her ginormous, socially anxious pup, Genki-Kazu uncovers evidence that suggests the dognapping ring is bigger than she ever imagined. But the more she digs, the more dangerous her investigation becomes. The dognappers are getting bolder, and Genki could be next.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “In this spirited debut, Holyoak introduces an indefatigable heroine whose distinct voice and loyal canine companion contribute to her considerable appeal. The diverse allies, plot twists, and delightful dogs make this a memorable beginning for Kazu and her friends.”

KIRKUS: “Holyoak creates a well-paced mystery with approachable characters and issues. The dognapping case and the go-get-’em attitude of Kazu provide just enough suspense and action without being too scary. Holyoak sprinkles in topics of growing up, including friendship, relationships with parents, mean people, and telling the truth.  A not-too-scary, diverse mystery for those who love action, dogs, and spunky heroines.”

REVIEW: This was a cute, fun, quick read about a little Japanese American girl named Kazuko or Kazu for short. She is her neighborhood paper girl. She is also an up and coming detective which gets her into a lot of trouble with her mom and a nuisance to the police and neighbors. Her latest case is about dogs going missing and being dog-napped. She enlists the help of her best friend March who is a 10 year old hacker thanks to his college bound sister. They find a suspect and that's not the hardest thing in her life at the moment. she has to sing a duet about friendship with a girl she does not get along with. Talk about middle school torture!!

I connected with this book in a way I was not expecting. The title is pretty obvious but I figured that would be a kind of small part or some kind of prank. I connected with the character of Mrs. Tanner. She is a pregnant woman who has a dog named Barkley. She lets Kazu walk her dog for money and Kazu lets Barkley off the leash. She gets stolen and Mrs. Tanner is devestated. 

I connected with this character because when I was pregnant with my last kid, we had a black lab named Shoka and he was my buddy. We moved into a new house before my daughter was born because we needed more space and Shoka had a big back yard. Three days before Christmas, Shoka and out other dog who we had just adopted went missing. The day after Christmas, we got a visit from a man who owned the field behind our house and said that our dogs were ruining his grass and eating the quail and birds. Then he told us that our dogs went to his house and ate his chickens. His house was a good 3 miles away from our house and on the other side of the high way. He took us to court and we were sued for his chickens that our dogs "ate". He had killed our dogs and took pictures of them and showed them to my husband. His grandson eventually came to our house after the court meeting and told us how his grandfather was bragging about taking two dogs and blackmailing the new people in the neighborhood. Long story short, my two dogs were stolen and planted in a yard full of cock fighting chickens and then were killed. 

Shauna has been telling stories long before she could ride a bike, and some of them are even true! She writes for kids and teens and thinks it’s kinda the best job ever. Kazu Jones and the Denver Dognappers is her debut novel, and it will be released on April 23, 2019! She lives in Idaho Falls, ID with her husband, six of their seven children, and two naughty dogs.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive finished signed or unsigned copies of KAZU JONES AND THE DENVER DOGNAPPERS, US Only.

Giveaway Link:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba2919/?

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

4/15/2019- Lifestyle Of Me- Review

4/16/2019- Lone Tree Reviews- Review

4/17/2019- Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers- Review

4/18/2019- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

4/19/2019- Bri's Book Nook- Review

Week Two:

4/22/2019- BookHounds YA- Interview

4/23/2019- Eli to the nth- Review

4/24/2019- two points of interest- Interview

4/25/2019- The Caffeinated Reader- Review

4/26/2019- That Bookish Princess- Review

Review: Sphinx's Queen by Esther Friesner

I rushed to read this because it is the sequel conclusion to Sphinx's Princess. This series is focused on Nefertiti and her childhood and her royal family line. We left off with Nefertiti escaping a blasphemous accusation set against her by her betrothed and cousin who is acting Pharaoh of Thebes. She escapes with her other cousin, the crown Prince Amenophis who she is falling in love with, and she also has her freed slave Nava with her.

They are on their way to Dendera to talk and plead Nefertiti's innocence to the Pharaoh and Queen Tiye, the Great Royal Wife. She has to fight her way and lie and hide, and eventually, she gets her justice. The romance between Nefertiti and Amenophis was cute, but you have to remind yourself that they are cousins. I was not expecting the death of this hated character and found that the characters changed behaviors afterward did not mix well.

April 2019 TBR

I am dubbing my April TBR as a catch-up. All of these books have been on previous months tbr's and I really want to get to them. They are high priority to me.  

March 2019 Reading Wrap Up

I am sorry for the lateness of this post, but I have been dealing with a cold and ear infection for a week and I am just now getting around to finishing this. I also have been having water issues in my home, so that was another major block in my day to day life. Anyways, ya'll are here to see the books I read and if you want to know my thoughts on them, go on over to my YouTube page and watch my video. It is a long one. And be sure to hit Subscribe and thumbs up. 

1. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

2. The Door to January by Gillian French

3. Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich

4. Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff

5. Sphinx's Princess by Esther Friesner

6. Delilah Dirk and the King's Shilling by Tony Cliff

7. Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules by Tony Cliff

8. The Star Thief by Lindsey Becker

9. The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton

10. Winger by Andrew Smith

11. This Family of Mine by Victoria Gotti

12. When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

13. Dewey by Vicki Myron

14. Samantha Spinner and the Super Secret Plans by Russell Ginns