The Graces Review

Spoiler Free!

3 and a half stars out of 5!

Everybody is obsessed with the Grace family and River is no different, except she is convinced that she can be the one to keep their attention. They're believed to be witches, but is that true? Are they truly dangerous?

I have conflicted emotions about Laure Eve's The Graces. I thought the beginning was bad and nearly didn't finish. What kept me going was that I wanted to write a bad review so I made myself power through. It got a lot better the further in I went, so I feel bad for all the people like me who stopped reading.

The main character is originally portrayed as this super special little snowflake who was better than all the other girls. She was gross and overdramatic in my opinion. Also, incredibly creepy. She was obsessed with this family with thoughts like, "Every minute I spent in their company was loaded with my concentration, my constant study in how to make them like me." She was shallow and very self-absorbed.

However, the story got a lot better when you realized that she is an unreliable narrator and isn't meant to be loved by readers. That dramatically improved my reading, I soon wanted to know more and what would happen next. I did end up guessing the twist, but it was still a good one and I actually look forward now to the next book to see where that twist goes next.

It's become so rare for me to like the first book in a series now so I will read the next book and that will be a better judge for me to gage how I feel. It left off with a cliffhanger and a lot of potential to be a unique series, so if it follows through I will be pleased.

Overall, this book is worth a shot, but you have to work for it to become good.

Favorite TV Shows!!

I've been trying to think of some fun things to post on my blog that don't deal with just book reviews and I know that many of us are TV show fanatics just as much as we are book fanatics. Here I have listed some of my favorite shows, I get bored really easily so some of these I might not be currently watching, but were my favorites at one point.

In No Particular Order!!!!

Supernatural

I haven't watched Supernatural in a really long time actually, but it played a really big role when I was in high school and the early seasons were fantastic. While I may not be watching anymore, it's still one of my favorites because it meant so much to me at one point.

From Dusk Till Dawn

A very weird snake vampire show based off of a Quentin Tarantino movie (which is also pretty good and weird and I suggest it). I loved the first season so much I rewatched it three more times immediately after I finished it. The second season is good but nowhere near as good.

Sherlock

First two seasons were absolutely amazing and wowed me so much. Third season didn't hold up to it and I was kind of really disappointed. I'm also a little fed up with the fandom and the writers so I'm nowhere near in love with it as I used to be. I actually still haven't watched the Christmas Special (I'm sorry!)

Grey's Anatomy

I just finished watching this on netflix and while it is a little too dramatic at times and is a bit of a soap opera at times, it is actually so good. It is feminist, has people of color in positions of power, has gay people in positions of power too (though not right away), and there are many episodes that have powerful messages that leave you in tears. Seriously guys I never gave this show a chance before because I just saw it as one of those crappy shows full of drama, but I fell in love with the characters so much.

The Office

Hilarious, need I say more?

Gilmore Girls

My parents are divorced so my mom was a single mom for a time and this was our show. It has an incredible bond between a mother and a daughter and is witty and amazing. While it ended in 2007, they are bringing it back this November in a four part miniseries!!!!!!

Parks & Recreation

Like The Office, I doubt I need to explain this one.

Sense8

You have to get past the first episode, it's weird and confusing but all the characters are my children and I would defend all of them to the grave.

Doctor Who

Another show that I don't watch anymore, but played an important role in my life and Donna Noble is the greatest and nobody can tell me different.

Avatar the Last Airbender

The show because I refuse to acknowledge that movie's existence. It's such an amazing show that anybody can watch regardless of age, I still rewatch it occasionally and it's incredible every time.

The Vampire Diaries

This is the only show for me that I stop watching it because it gets bad and I always end up going back to it. I have watched on and off since the first season and I must have stopped at 6 times, but I always go back to it and catch up until I'm up to date. Caroline is the only character I continue to care about though.

In the Flesh

Gay zombies, need I say more? I'm so angry that this show was cancelled though. While there's a very limited amount of episodes, they are all superb and I never get tired of watching them again and again.

It Ends With Us Review

Colleen Hoover's It Ends With Us takes place in Boston, where Lily has worked hard to get to. She's opened her own business and done as much as she could to get away from her childhood. When she meets Ryle Kincaid and a connection sparks between the two of them, it looks like life couldn't get any better. Ryle is hot, arrogant, sensitive, and while he hates relationships, he can't help his attraction to Lily. But as Lily continues to move on in her life, she remembers Atlas Corrigan, he first love and a central part of her childhood. When he reappears, things become quite messy...

Honestly, as I was writing this description I started tearing up. This book was incredible. Many of us know Colleen Hoover as more of a fluffy romance author for entertainment only. It Ends With Us shocked me to the core with how much I felt. I really do not want to give away the dilemma that I went with alongside Lily, but holy crap this book ripped me apart. Nothing is black and white in this and it really explores the grey parts. It was so powerful and I want to go into so many more details, but to keep this spoiler-free you just have to read it.

While the summary implies a love triangle, that is not the focus of the story and please should not drive you away. There is some fantastic female friendship in this and so many quotable parts that again, I can't talk about through fear of giving something away. Just trust me that you have to give this book a try, even if you haven't like Colleen Hoover's stuff in the past.

The author's note at the end of this book is so incredibly important too guys. You must read it when you finish (and only when you finish!!!) so you get insight into why Colleen Hoover wrote this book.

Oh my god, I loved this book. 5 out 5 stars all the way.

P.S. The cover is absolutely beautiful and I adore it.

Dark Matter Review

Blake Crouch's Dark Matter is a sci-fi novel that takes on the complex question of "What if?" Jason Dessen had the potential to be great, but he decided to settle down with his wife and son and become a physics professor instead. Until he is kidnapped one night by a masked man and knocked unconscious. When he wakes up, he is not a humble professor but a celebrated and award-winning scientist, he is not married and does not have a son. Everything that seems real is called into question and Jason must figure out how to get back to his family. 

The best way I can describe this book is that it was trippy. Sometimes they would go a little to far into the science and I would be left confused, but I think it helped with the disorienting effect. I sympathized a lot with Jason, because while he did give up a lot for his family, it was a sacrifice he didn't regret making. Yet, nobody can blame him for wondering what if? What if he continued with his research or what if he had made the smallest different decision? It could change everything. I became so engaged in what would happen next because each chapter would step it up and mess with me even more.

This book is actually impossible to fully review because there could be so many spoilers and while the twists were oh so obvious, I did not see them coming at all. Maybe it's cause science is most definitely not my area of expertise, but the end just made so much sense as to, of course it had to come down to this.

A fantastic thrilling story on the lengths one would go to to reunite themselves with their love and a reminder that science is really quite terrifying. You do have to apply a little suspension of disbelief, so if you're not good at that, you might not like this book as so many people have. Just go with it and you'll find yourself loving it.

I would give Dark Matter 4 and a half stars, but rounded up to 5 cause I'm still so perplexed and a little dumbfounded.