ARC REVIEW: Mind Games (Mind Games, #1), by Kiersten White

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Kristilyn

Date(s) read: February 22 – 23, 2013
Genre: YA Science Fiction

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Buy Now From: Amazon | Indigo

SYNOPSIS

Two sisters, bound by impossible choices, are determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

James’s frozen face melts into a smile. “Do you want to know the trick to getting in trouble under the watchful eye of a psychic?”

I think of the nailed-shut windows. I think of Clarice. I think of the two, the two, the two who are now zero. Tap tap. “Yes, I absolutely do.”

“Don’t plan it. Don’t even think about it. The second you get an inkling of what you could do, do it then. Never plan anything ahead of time. Always go on pure instinct.”

I smile. “I think I can do that.”

My Thoughts

Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for providing me a copy of this book for review!

I was very excited about reading this book when I first saw its gorgeous cover. I mean, that cover is STUNNING! And the synopsis really grabbed my attention, too. Sister assassins? Super powers? Sign me up!

Unfortunately, when I finished reading, I felt like the cover was the only thing I had really positive comments on because this book really wasn’t for me. It started off with a bang and I was immediately intrigued, but then it dragged and dragged in a muddled mess of confusion, only to end with another bang — the only redeeming factor to the story. Continue reading →

ARC REVIEW: Through to You, by Emily Hainsworth

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Kristilyn

Date(s) read: September 26, 2012
Genre: YA Sci-Fi Contemporary

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Buy Now From: Amazon

SYNOPSIS
Camden Pike has been grief-stricken since his girlfriend, Viv, died. Viv was the last good thing in his life: helping him rebuild his identity after a career-ending football injury, picking up the pieces when his home life shattered, and healing his pain long after the meds wore off. And now, he’d give anything for one more glimpse of her. But when Cam makes a visit to the site of Viv’s deadly car accident, he sees some kind of apparition. And it isn’t Viv.

The apparition’s name is Nina, and she’s not a ghost. She’s a girl from a parallel world, and in this world, Viv is still alive. Cam can’t believe his wildest dreams have come true. All he can focus on is getting his girlfriend back, no matter the cost. But things are different in this other world: Viv and Cam have both made very different choices, things between them have changed in unexpected ways, and Viv isn’t the same girl he remembers. Nina is keeping some dangerous secrets, too, and the window between the worlds is shrinking every day. As Cam comes to terms with who this Viv has become and the part Nina played in his parallel story, he’s forced to choose—stay with Viv or let her go—before the window closes between them once and for all.

My Thoughts

Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing me a review copy of this book!

This was a CRAZY little book! I do have to say that when I first started reading this, I was expecting a ghost story or something of the like — NOT the story I received.

But first, can I just talk about that GORGEOUS cover? That was the first thing that drew me to the book — the reflection in the water, the bold font, the colours! I have to say that the girl on the cover is just slightly misleading because the story is told from the viewpoint of the main character, Camden, who is getting over the loss of his girlfriend, Vivian in a car crash. Continue reading →

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (THHGTTG, #1), by Douglas Adams

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Kristilyn

Released: May 2, 2002 (New Millenium Audio)
Author Links: WEB | GOODREADS | FACEBOOK
Source: Borrowed

Genre: Humorous Sci-Fi, Classic

Audiobook Notes:
Narrator: Douglas Adams
Length: 5 hours

SERIES:
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (#1) Audible | Goodreads
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (#2)
Life, The Universe and Everything (#3)
So Long, and Thanks for the Fish (#4)
Mostly Harmless (#5)

SYNOPSIS:
Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last 15 years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.

Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide (“A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.”) and a galaxy full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod’s girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; and Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.

Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time in between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don’t forget to bring a towel!

Why I Read Listened To This Book

I have had this in paperback FOREVER, but just never got around to reading it. I knew it would be funny, but I just couldn’t get past the first few pages. It’s a classic, at least in the sci-fi world, so I had to give it a whirl.

My Thoughts

So when I was growing up, I had a brother (well, I still have a brother …) who was really into science fiction things. He loves computers, games, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc., etc. — and he loved reading. I was never really a reader when I was growing up. Sure, I had my favourite series books, but I wasn’t one to just camp out in a pile of blankets and spend the whole day with my nose in a book (if only I could fast-forward 20 years …).

My brother, on the other hand, read plenty of books. Science Fiction books. His bookshelf really wasn’t one that I found myself wanting to borrow books from. Until he moved. Then, I got my borrowing act on and borrowed a few nerdy things from him — including his copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Continue reading →