Book Review #49: "God of the Internet"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "God of the Internet," by Lynn Lipinski. This book was published August 16, 2016 by Majestic Content. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE.  This book was a war between hackers, of hackers hacking hackers. With the Internet not being as secure as it needs, the United States faces a different kind of threat, a different kind of war, one in using our technology against us. It is about how far would one go to protect one's family.  Would you be able to turn against the one person whom you love and trust the most? 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was an awesome, suspenseful read. It had me sitting on the edge of my seat to see where the story would go next. What made this book great and kind of scary was this story is so extremely realistic and I can see this story being played out in real life. This book covered so many current topics, and it had such strong character development. Actually it is one of those books that would be a great movie. The only thing negative I can say were that parts of it was a little too cheesy, for my liking. But I am very happy that I chose to read this book, as I enjoyed reading it from the beginning to end.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Lynn Lipinski, and Majestic Content for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #48: "My (Underground) American Dream"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "My (Underground) American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive," by Julissa Arce. This book is hot off the press being published today September 13, 2016 by Faithwords. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book is a memoir about Julissa Arce's life story. It discusses her childhood on how her parents brought her to the United States as an undocumented immigrant. Her parents did it in the best intentions to provide the American Dream for their children. It is what she had to overcome in living with this status.  On how she climbed the ladder to be an executive working on Wall Street for Goldman Sachs. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was an amazing story. It is hard enough to grow up in  America and graduate college with top grades, and never the less secure a job in Wall Street and then add on to that difficulty of doing all this while being an undocumented immigrant. The author told her story in an emotional way. She brought forward all the stereotypes that some of have of immigrants and proved them all wrong. I think this is a very important book that should be read by everyone because we can all learn something from Julissa Arce.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Julissa Arce, and Faithwords for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill 

Book Review #47: "Darktown"

     Hey Everyone,

     

     I am going to review the book "Darktown," by Thomas Mullen.  Thomas Mullen is the author of "The Last Town on Earth," "The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers, and "The Revisionists." I am excited to read his earlier books, because of my fascination with "Darktown." This book is hot off the press being published today September 13, 2016, by Atria Publishing Group. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book is about historic Atlanta, Georgia, when Atlanta hired its first African American police officers. This book discusses what it was like to be an African American police officer, during this time period. It centers around the murder of an African American woman. Instead of letting this unknown woman go down in the books as a number, two African American police officers went beyond their call of duty to investigate her death. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This book also went on my favorites list on Goodreads. This was a fascinating read. It so accurately described this time period, bringing it back to life. It was a well told mystery, in that it captured my attention throughout the entire book. The plot is well developed, including many twists and turns. Along with the plot it had very strong character development. The realness of this book was so excellent it was creepy almost. But creepy in a good way. I highly recommend reading this book.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Thomas Mullen, and Atria Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #46: "Mischling"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Mischling," by Affinity Konar. This book was published on September 6, 2016 by Lee Boudreaux Books. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE.  This book takes place during World War II. It is about a set of twins. During WWII mischlings were people with Aryan and Jewish descent. These children were often sent to concentration camps where they were subject to all sorts of medical experimentation, and were subject to many forms of torture. These twins Stasha and Pearl were as close as twins could be, they survived because of their connection. At one point during the book Pearl disappears. The two twins then follow down two different paths one towards revenge and the other towards forgiveness. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was a heart wrenching story. It reminded me of the book "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." This was difficult to read because it was such an emotional story. A book mixed with despair, desperation, and hope. This book was so beautifully written. The writing was so poetic that is clashed (in a good way) with the story that it was telling. I fell in love with the words, as well as the two main characters. And you all will too, so put this book on your shelf.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Affinity Konar, and Lee Boudreaux Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review 45: "The Underground Railroad"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "The Underground Railroad," by Colson Whitehead. This book is hot off the press,  as it was published August 2, 2016 by Doubleday Books. Oprah Winfrey just picked this book to be a part of her book club. So congratulations to the author Colson Whitehead. Colson Whitehead graduated from Harvard College and worked at The Village Voice. He has written several other books including "Sag Harbor," "Zone One," and "The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky, and Death." For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book is about a young woman Cora who was born into slavery. Cora decides to follow the path of her mother by risking her life to escape her life of slavery. This book is about her journey through the underground railroad and how an escape from slavery is not so easy as she finds her past comes back to haunt her. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was an excellent book, it was written brilliantly. It was a heart wrenching book to read, as the tragedy seems to never end for Cora. I think this is an important book for everyone to read, as it brings forth the reality of slavery. I did think that this book could have been shortened a little. Some areas it got a little redundant and too detailed with irrelevant information. It was just so depressing, so be aware, though it is a book that has to be that way. I am excited to read more from this author.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Colson Whitehead, and Doubleday Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #44: "Behold the Dreamers"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Behold the Dreamers," by Imbolo Mbue. This book was published August 23, 2016 by Random House. For those of you who would like to purchase this book CLICK HERE. This is Imbolo Mbue debut novel and it is a good one. This book is about Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant who came to New York City to find the American Dream. It is about how far will go to get the American Dream. This book takes place during the recession of 2008, and how this dramatically affected the lives of the Jonga family. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was an excellent read, being the author's debut novel. I am looking forward to reading more from Imbolo Mbue. This book discussed many current issues, and is a very relevant read. It gets to the heart and soul of the matter. It brings up many topics, such as family and sacrifice. I really did enjoy this book, however I was a bit disappointed with the way it ended. It seemed that there was little closure, that I was looking for. It was an open-ended at the end that left a lot of questions unanswered, which did not ruin the book. It's just I am the type of person who prefers closure. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Imbolo Mbue, and Random House Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #43: "The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko," by Scott Stambach. This book was published on August 9, 2016 by St. Martin's Press.  For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE.  This book is about a seventeen year old boy Ivan who has spent his life in Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children in Belarus. It is about him surviving living every day the same, until he meets a girl, a fellow patient Polina who unravels Ivan's daily routine. 

     As you can see I rated this book five stars out of five. And may I take a moment to say how absolutely amazing this book was. It is always great when a book surprises you in it being better than you ever expected. This book, at least in my opinion is similar to "The Fault in Our Stars," by John Green, except that it is better. It was a book that I never wanted to end. I can't tell you how few books that I actually laugh out loud while reading it, and this was one of those books. The sarcastic and humorous tone that this book had made it what it is. This book had many twists and turns and each page was a surprise. It was a book that while reading you felt the whole spectrum of emotions from sadness, to anger, to hopefulness and to humor. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Scott Stambach, and St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill