Book Review #67: "The Road To Jonestown"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple," by Jeff Guinn. This book is hot off the press as it was published on April 11, 2017 by Simon and Schuster.  For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. Jeff Guinn is a well established author as well as an award winning investigative journalist. He is the author of "Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde," "The Last Gunfight: The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral-And How it Changed the American West," and "Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson.  This book is about Jim Jones and his followers. This book goes into great depth of the history and events that led to over 900 people committing suicide.

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was a very informative book. This book started off from the beginning going into great depths of Jim Jones family history starting with the life of his mother Lynetta Jones. It then goes into describing Jim Jones as a child. This book does a great job of explaining the outside influences, the culture and politics about how Jim Jones and his followers committed suicide. Although this book was well written and very informative, I think this book did drag on a little bit. I do think this book could have been shortened, as sometimes it was a bit repetitive and went into too much detail. Overall this book was a very informative and interesting read I do recommend it.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Jeff Guinn, and Simon and Schuster for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #66: "Gauntlet (Arena #2)

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Gauntlet (Arena #2)," by Holly Jennings. This book is hot off the press as it was published on April 4, 2017 by Berkley Publishing Group. For those of you who would like to read an excerpt from this book CLICK HERE. And for those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book is the second book of Holly Jennings's Arena series. If you would like to read my book review of Arena CLICK HERE.  This book continues where the first book left off. Kali has bought her first gaming team and is the first female captain ever. It is about her struggling to keep her team afloat. An opportunity of a lifetime comes up for Kali and her team and this book is about this mega world gaming tournament.

     Overall I rated this book five out of five stars. This book series keeps getting better and better. I normally find the second book of trilogy's the weakest link, but in this case it is the strongest link. For a Science Fiction/Fantasy series this book is extremely well written and has a lot of depth and character development to it. There are multiple layers to this book. Each layer brought on a different dimension and had multiple surprises. I really liked the sarcastic tone that Kali had telling this story, it definitely added humor into this book. I also loved the meaning that this book brought forward it made this book all that much more worth reading. There are not many books like this these days. We definitely need more of them. Actually we need more Kali's in this world. I also really liked the political side to this book. It fit in real well with the story and added another element to this story. And oh man the cliff hanger at the end, is killing me that I have to wait another year until I can finish this story.  I would definitely recommend reading this series so go out and read it. If you need to start on "Arena" the first book you can purchase it by CLICKING HERE. 

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

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #65: "The Dead Inside"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "The Dead Inside: A True Story," by Cyndy Etler. This book is hot off the press as it was published by Sourcebooks.  If you would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book is a true story of a young girl in trying to escape the abuse of her step-father has smoked pot twice and ran away from home. In doing this she was sent to a sort of drug rehab for kids. There and what went on inside there was horrific. This is her story.

     Overall I rated this book three stars out of five. First of all I have to give the author credit for being able to write about such a tragic story. This book was heart wrenching. I had to hold back tears and anger reading this. This was such a courageous step taken by the author with her one intention to help others by writing this. The reason why I have given this book three stars was for the writing, the choppy style of writing I found it difficult to read just because I felt it did not flow well. I understand why the author chose to write it in this style as to make it easier for others to understand what she was going through and coming from and to make it present tense. I know others who read this probably will have a better opinion on the flow of writing in this book. It was just not my style.  I still highly recommend this book to all, as it is important for everyone to be aware of what goes on behind closed doors and in today's trendy drug rehab centers. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Cyndy Etler, and Sourcebooks for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #64: "The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley"

 

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley," by Hannah Tinti. This book is hot off the press as it was published on March 28, 2017 by Random House Publishing Group. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE.  Hannah Tinti is a well established author who is the co founder of "One Story Magazine," and has previously written the books "Animal Crackers," and "The Good Thief." This book is about mainly a father and a daughter and their intricate relationship. Samuel Hawley is your typical bad boy who has lived a dangerous lifestyle and is now responsible for raising his daughter Loo. Samuel Hawley is trying to start anew in raising his daughter and in not letting his past catch up with him, and in making sure his daughter Loo is raised properly and does not get into the trouble he did.

     Overall I rated this book five stars out of five. This was an excellent book that I cannot speak more highly about. The character development was superb and in depth. This was definitely one heart breaker of a book, but it was inspiring and bittersweet at the same time. Reading about the relationship between Samuel Hawley and his daughter Loo was tearing me up it was so raw. This book pulled me in from the first page all the way to the end. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Hannah Tinti, 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 #63: "Mercies In Disguise"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Mercies In Disguise: A Story Of Hope, A Family's Genetic Destiny, And The Science That Rescued Them," by Gina Kolata. This book is hot off the press as it was published March 21, 2017 by St. Martin's Press. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. The author Gina Kolata is a well known journalist at "The Times," who specializes on Science and Medicine, which made her an excellent fit for this book.

This book is about a well established family The Baxley's who fought an extremely rare genetic disease GSS that mimicked Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. It was about this family's dedicated efforts in finding out what was killing their family's members. It was also about one family member in particular who made the extremely hard decision to be tested to see if she too would be afflicted with this disease.

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. It was an excellent read that covered this family's journey and the history behind this disease in great detail, all while capturing your attention throughout the book. It made me think and put myself in this family's shoes in what would I do if it was me? What decision would I make? Do you put it in God's hands or do you leave it to science? The only criticism that I would make is that there was one chapter in the book where it went into the history of In Vitro Fertilization that I felt was unnecessary to add in the book. I think that it would have been better to leave this chapter out because it brought up a whole new set of questions that took the focus away from the real story that was going on. But again it was still interesting learning about the history of it anyways so I don't put a lot of weight on this criticism. I would definitely recommend this book for all to read.

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

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #62: "Ill Will"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Ill Will," by Dan Chaon. This book is hot off the press and was published March 7, 2017 by Random House Publishing Group Ballantine Books. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. Dan Chaon is a well established author. He is the author of "Await Your Reply" and "Among The Missing." This book is about Dustin a psychologist who has a traumatic past. His family was murdered, and his older brother got convicted to life in prison for this crime. Years later it turns out that Rusty his brother got released from prison and his sentence overturned because DNA evidence proved him innocent. With Rusty getting out of prison and a new set of crimes of a possible serial killer comes present Dustin's life gets turned upside down. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was a well written story. The reason this book worked out so well was because the author was successful in writing about unlikable characters and still making this book an exciting, interesting story. I usually do have trouble reading and finishing books where the characters are unlikable. The author did a really good job in writing a story that covers a large time span because this book flowed and fit together well. The suspense in this book was thrilling, and once you get to the end you are in for a surprise. I have to say I usually do not choose books of this nature, it is not something I would pick first off a shelf. But I am so glad I read this because overall it was an excellent must read book.

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

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #61: "The Wanderers"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "The Wanderers," by Meg Howrey. This book is hot off the press as it is published today March 14, 2017 by Penguin Group. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. Meg Howrey is a well established author who has also written "The Cranes Dance" and "Blind Sight."  This book is about three astronauts who are in a 17 month simulation isolated from the rest of humanity. They are training in a simulation for a future trip to Mars.

     Overall I rated this book three stars out of five. This book was well written. The characters in this book are extremely well developed as well as all the relationships between them and their family. Although I did like Helen she did get on my nerves a bit due to her perfectionist personality. This was a story of human relationships and how far ambition will take a human into accomplishing one's dreams. Following the thread between real and unreal was a bit ambiguous at times and made the book difficult to follow. But this was such a deeply written story that seemed all too real because of how well the author developed her characters and their relationships. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Meg Howrey, and Penguin Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill