The Conjuring Movie Review

Released July 19, 2013
Rated R
Directed by James Wan
Starring Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston

There were a lot of factors that made me really excited to see The Conjuring.  James Wan also directed Insidious (2010) and the original Saw (2004), two amazing horror films, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are two of my absolute favorite actors, and literally every person who had seen The Conjuring raved about how awesome it was.  And after finally seeing The Conjuring for myself, I have to say that it definitely lived up to my expectations.

The basic (no spoilers!) plot of The Conjuring is like many other haunted house horror movies out there.  A family unknowingly moves into a haunted house that steadily becomes more and more frightening until the family breaks down and calls a paranormal investigator, psychic, or priest to exorcise the house.  Yes I know how cliche that sounds, but where The Conjuring excels is in creating suspense and tension and breathes new life in the traditional haunted house story.

The casting for The Conjuring was fantastic.  I especially enjoyed Patrick Wilson (Insidious, Hard Candy) and Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air).  They had great chemistry and I got a good sense that the Warrens were in it for the right reasons.  They weren't thrill seekers who got in over their heads or con-artists looking to scam unsuspecting victims, they were people with certain skills and knowledge that allowed them to help people in danger.  I also really enjoyed Lili Taylor (Six Feet Under) and Ron Livingston (Office Space) who play the wife and husband who move into the haunted house.  They don't spend a lot of time arguing about the scary stuff that is happening, they move from confused to scared to believing they are haunted rather quickly which really helps the plot move along.

Like I said earlier, The Conjuring may have a very formulaic plot, but the use of creative camera work and some very excellent actors produce some very suspenseful scenes.  Vera Farmiga in particular did a great job.  Her character is a lot more sensitive to the supernatural and her reactions to seeing something that no one else can were spine chilling.  Simply looking in a mirror was enough to have me white knuckling my seat. 

Photo Credit

That ultimately is what makes The Conjuring so great.  This movie is rated R, not because there's gore, sex, graphic violence, nudity, language, drugs, or any other factor.  No, it's rated R simply because it will scare the piss out of you.  Little things like a game of hide and seek, a door slowly creaking open, or a shadowy figure seen out of the corner of your eye will terrify you for more than any amount of blood and guts.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater



 #1 in The Raven Cycle
Published September 18, 2012 by Scholastic Press
4 Stars

Goodreads Review
There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

Review:  I absolutely loved the premise of The Raven Boys, but I had a hard time getting started with this novel.  The beginning felt very slow, largely due to the story being told from two separate perspectives (Blue and Gansey have alternating point of view chapters for a while).  However once Blue and Gansey meet and join forces the story takes a major turn.  I flew through the second half of this book and became completely immersed in the story and characters.

The Raven Boys is a bit of a slow burn to start off.  I think this is due to the fact that the marketing materials presented the book like it was going to be all about Blue and her family, but in reality Gansey is the main character for much of the novel.  I went into The Raven Boys expecting a story about a girl living with her psychic family, but instead I got a story about a group of boys trying to find a magical energy line.  This isn't bad necessarily, but it wasn't what I was expecting so I was put off at first. 

The biggest strength of The Raven Boys is the characters.  Each character feels supported and full. Everyone has a unique backstory that shapes their world view.  I really enjoyed reading how each character grows during the course of the book, in particular Blue, Gansey, and Ronan.  I also really enjoyed Blue's family and I really hope that we'll learn more about them in future books.

I'd say the pacing of the book is the biggest weakness.  It was slow and confusing at the beginning, and fast and confusing at the end.  I feel like this is a book I needed to re-read immediately after finishing because I felt like I missed something.  The world building in The Raven Boys sometimes felt too big for the book and that the ideas of the magic and mythology were difficult to get on paper. 

Overall the Raven Boys is an interesting, if sometimes confusing, start to a series.  While the world building and pacing were shaky at times the fantastically developed characters will definitely bring me back for book two.

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Published September 18, 2012 by Little Brown Books for Young Readers

#1 in The Diviners series

5 stars

Goodreads Review
Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

Review:  The Diviners by Libba Bray is a dense book. This is by far one of the most historically rich young adult books I have ever read. The amount of effort and research Bray put into The Diviners is immediately apparent. Not only do we get the more surface historical elements such as bobbed hair and flappers and speakeasies, but we also get the political, social, and economic climate of the time period in a masterfully subtle way. I think that is the greatest strength of The Diviners. The historical elements are fully integrated into the story in a beautifully seamless way.

Besides the awesome historical element, I really enjoyed the occult aspect to The Diviners. I loved "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies" as well as the various rituals and ghosty things that happen. I think there's a wonderful blend of fact and fiction that creates a really interesting story. I think some people may be initially turned off by the occult elements, but I think if you just remember that this is 100% fictional it will be ok. (I personally love creepy Halloween stuff so that was a huge selling point for me).

Now let's just take a minute to discuss Naughty John. That is one CREEPY mofo. Seriously, Naughty John is one of the best villains I have ever read. I would say he is on par with Stephen King's ghostly bad guys, which are really about as good as you can get. I think a lot villains in YA are watered down but not Naughty John. He's a great villain and I'm really excited when YA authors take their villain out of the box the way Bray did.

The other characters were also wonderful. I really liked Evie, even if she started off rather shallow, I think there will be a lot of growth with her character. I also really liked Theta and Mable, Evie's two friends. I liked their friendship a lot. I've said it before, but I love YA that has girls being friends with other girls. I think it's really important to include in YA and I think The Diviners does a great job.

My only real complaint about The Diviners is the sheer density of the book. Not only is it almost 600 pages, but the story is so full of background and historical elements that it can be a little daunting. This really isn't a negative, more of an observation that The Diviners was a slow burn for me.

Overall The Diviners is an impressive YA novel and really stands above a lot of historical fiction (YA or not). The excellent paranormal mystery woven into one of the most comprehensive historical novels that I've ever read makes The Diviners by Libba Bray an achievement for the YA genre.

Velveteen by Daniel Marks

#1 in the Velveteen series
Pubished October 9, 2012 by Delacorte
egalley for review from netgalley
5 stars
DAC 2012

Goodreads Review
Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that's not the problem.

The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it's not a fiery inferno, it's certainly no heaven. It's gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn't leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what's really on her mind.

Bonesaw.

Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she's figured out just how to do it. She'll haunt him for the rest of his days.
It'll be brutal . . . and awesome.

But crossing the divide between the living and the dead has devastating consequences. Velveteen's obsessive haunting cracks the foundations of purgatory and jeopardizes her very soul. A risk she's willing to take—except fate has just given her reason to stick around: an unreasonably hot and completely off-limits coworker.

Velveteen can't help herself when it comes to breaking rules . . . or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her. 

Review:  You guys.  Velveteen is freaking AWESOME.  FOR REALZ.  This is probably my #1 most anticipated book of 2012, and I know this book doesn't come out until October, and of course I have it already pre-ordered, but I could not resist reading it as soon as it landed in my Kindle (thanks netgalley!!!!).  And Velveteen does not disappoint.  If you guys watch Danny's youtube channel (and you should, shame on you if you don't!) you know he is sarcastic, intelligent, eclectic, and a little bit creepy (and I mean that in the most admiration filled way possible) and this is exactly what you get with Velveteen. 

The very best thing about this book is the main character, Velvet.  She is fan-freaking-tastic.  Of course I love her snarky and rude attitude that's wrapped in a bad ass goth exterior, but Velvet is SO MUCH MORE than that.  This character is deep, yo.  She's gone through some hardcore trauma and even though she acts all tough, I think she's a lot more wounded than she wants to admit (and you would be too if some sadist tortured you to death!).

I wanted to mention the world building too.  I absolutely LOVED this interpretation of purgatory.  The descriptions of purgatory aren't just descriptions, they're brush strokes.  Seriously, Marks has one of the best vocabularies in YA literature.  His writing is SO creative and descriptive.  I found myself googling a lot of stuff just so I could get a clearer visual in my head, and I almost never bother to do that.

Photo Credit

This is a nutmeg grater.  You're welcome for that visual.

There are a few things I wanted to change about the story.  I really wanted more Bonesaw!  I really liked that character and I liked how Velvet reacted to him and I wanted more.  It honestly felt like two books were being shoved together, and sadly my preferred story got neglected.  (side note, when I read this back in April the synopsis made it seem a lot darker and a lot more of a revenge story, it has since changed to better reflect the actual story within which I think was a really smart move. The original synopsis would disappoint people who were looking for a horror book and got PNR and scare away people looking for an urban fantasy or paranormal story.)

I also could have done without Nick all together to be honest.  I guess he was there to help bring out Velvet's soft nougat center or whatever, but he felt very one dimensional and kind of a crutch.  I would have rather seen Velvet deal with her demons on her own. 

All in all I really loved this book, but more so I really loved Danny's writing.  I am extremely excited for whatever project he puts out next, be it another Velveteen book or something completely new.  You KNOW I will be reading it!

Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

#1 in Bad Girls Don't Die series
Published 2009 by Hyperion
4 stars

Goodreads Review
When Alexis's little sister Kasey becomes obsessed with an antique doll, Alexis thinks nothing of it. Kasey is a weird kid. Period. Alexis is considered weird, too, by the kids in her high school, by her parents, even by her own Goth friends. Things get weirder, though, when the old house they live in starts changing. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in. Kasey is changing, too. Her blue eyes go green and she speaks in old-fashioned language, then forgets chunks of time.

Most disturbing of all is the dangerous new chip on Kasey's shoulder. The formerly gentle, doll-loving child is gone, and the new Kasey is angry. Alexis is the only one who can stop her sister — but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?

Review:  Bad Girls Don't Die is an excellent mystery and horror novel.  I thought it did an excellent job of balancing the scare factor while still keeping it age appropriate.  I think this is an excellent book for younger teens who are interested in ghost stories but don't want a lot of gore.

The best part of this book, hands down, was Kasey.  There's something that is just terrifying about creepy little girls, and Kasey is a perfect example of this.  When possessed she's sinister and manipulative and completely unsettling, which creates a fantastic tension.  The buildup of Kasey's descent is very well paced.  I really liked the main character Alexis as well, I'm so jealous of her pink hair. Actually all of the characters were great, I really enjoyed Megan and Carter as well. Unfortunately the story gets a little messy near the end and it's a bit hard to follow (and freakishly easy to predict) but the creep factor is still there.

Overall Bad Girls Don't Die is an excellent introduction to the horror genre.  I think people who aren't big on the blood and gore of some of the more hardcore books of the genre will really enjoy Bad Girls Don't Die.  It has the mystery and suspense without straying into the more gross aspects of the genre.  (Oh and what is is about creepy dolls that just strikes terror into the heart?)

The House of Dead Maids by Clare B. Dunkle

Published September 14, 2010 by Henry Holt and Co.
4 Stars

Goodreads Review
Young Tabby Aykroyd has been brought to the dusty mansion of Seldom House to be nursemaid to a foundling boy. He is a savage little creature, but the Yorkshire moors harbor far worse, as Tabby soon discovers. The ghost of the last maid will not leave Tabby in peace, yet this spirit is only one of many. Why do scores of dead maids and masters haunt Seldom House with a jealous devotion that extends beyond the grave? 

As Tabby struggles to escape the evil forces rising out of the land, she watches her young charge choose a different path. He is determined to keep Seldom House as his own. Though Tabby tries to befriend the uncouth urchin, her kindness cannot alter his fate. Long before he reaches the old farmhouse of Wuthering Heights, the boy who will become Heathcliff has doomed himself and any who try to befriend him. 

Review:  Confession time.  I have never read Wuthering Heights.  I don't really know what it's about.  I know there's a boy named Heathcliff and he's a bit of a douche to a girl named Cathy, but beyond that I got nothing.  The House of Dead Maids reads like a middle grade prequel/inspiration story for Wuthering Heights.  I think it would be great for a middle school student to help introduce them to the more Bronte/Austen style of writing.  I could see The House of Dead Maids being used in a middle school classroom and then Wuthering Heights being taught later in High School. 

The House of Dead Maids is very creepy.  I could totally see it being an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark.  The story telling and pacing are very well done and while it isn't extremely scary, it maintains a level of suspense throughout the entire novel.  I also thought the ending of The House of Dead Maids was very clever.  I liked how it ties in the Bronte sisters and hints at the inspiration for Wuthering Heights.  It an interesting addition to the Wuthering Heights tale, and it has definitely made me want to read Wuthering Heights. 

Overall The House of Dead Maids is a great middle grade Gothic tale that maintains a a suspenseful tone without becoming too scary.  I think will help spur an interest in classics in young readers and I would recommend it to any reader who is looking for a quick and ghostly story.

The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith

#1 in the Marbury Lens series
Published November 9, 2010 by Feiwel and Friends
4 Stars

Goodreads Review
Sixteen-year-old Jack gets drunk and is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is kidnapped. He escapes, narrowly. The only person he tells is his best friend, Conner. When they arrive in London as planned for summer break, a stranger hands Jack a pair of glasses. Through the lenses, he sees another world called Marbury.  There is war in Marbury. It is a desolate and murderous place where Jack is responsible for the survival of two younger boys. Conner is there, too. But he’s trying to kill them.  Meanwhile, Jack is falling in love with an English girl, and afraid he’s losing his mind.  Conner tells Jack it’s going to be okay. But it’s not.  Andrew Smith has written his most beautiful and personal novel yet, as he explores the nightmarish outer limits of what trauma can do to our bodies and our minds.


Review:  The Marbury Lens is, well, weird.  Good weird, but weird all the same.  The best way I can describe it is half The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson and half the movie The Road Warrior.  The Marbury Lens is an experiential book.  It doesn't bother to give you a lot of background.  You don't learn how the lens work or why Marbury is the way it is, you're just thrown into the world and are forced to sink or swim much like the main character Jack.  And you're not just swimming in water,  you're wading through blood and fear, sweat and pain.  The Marbury Lens is violent, intense, agonizing, and completely engrossing.

What I really loved about The Marbury Lens was how it didn't hold back.  I am a huge horror fan and this book did not skimp on the gory details.  I felt everything in this book as if I was in Marbury too.  When Jack saw a dismembered body and gagged my stomach roiled.  When Jack began to question his sanity, I felt the same anxiety.  In much the same way as how Jack cannot resist the pull of The Marbury Lens, I too found myself consumed by this book, despite the horror contained within it's pages. 

I loved the ambiguity of The Marbury Lens.  We never really figure out if Marbury is real, a symptom of post traumatic stress or worse, an imagined escape.  And that's what makes it so awesome.  I love it when a book is completely not the normal YA fare and I think "What is this thing I'm reading!?".  The Marbury Lens delivers, and the ending?  Had my mouth hanging open in disbelief.  I cannot wait for the second book, Passenger, due sometime in 2012.

.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

#1 in the Anna series
Published on August 30, 2011 by Tor Teen
5 Stars
DAC 2011

Goodreads Review
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

Review:  Anna Dressed in Blood is an excellent and creepy ghost story that is sure to thrill readers.  It's a perfect book for the Halloween season.  This mystery is excellent for anyone interested in ghosts and their motivations for haunting and how the living can help them.

I seriously loved everything about this book.  First off, the title is perfect.  Man I love a good title.  Also the setting is fantastic.  The descriptions of Anna's house is so freaky and just the perfect place to be haunted.  It really adds to the mystery of the whole story, and I really liked the history of the house.  The house is even more scary once you learn what happens in the house while people were still alive.

I also really liked Blake's writing style.  The pacing of the book is very well done.  The way the mystery unravels never feels forced nor predictable.  I was constantly guessing what was going to happen next, and in a mystery/thriller that is a MUST.  If I can guess what's going to happen within the first 50 pages you're doing it wrong.  I really enjoyed the humor in this book as well.  It's subtle and well placed.  The overall tone of the book is firmly on the dark side, but the instances of lightness really help maintain my interest in the book.  

The other thing that I really appreciated was the Wiccan and witchcraft aspect of the book.  Cas's mom is a pagan who does things like cleanse tools used to hunt ghosts, purifies their home and casts protection spells, and creates candles, herbal mixes, and other items that are infused with a specific intention that are sold online and at various metaphysical shops.  What I loved about this is the fact that what Cas's mom does IS REAL WITCHCRAFT.  This is what real witches do.  They don't fly or turn into cats or shoot lasers of the their eyes (oh wait that was x-men).  I loved how the witchcraft in Anna never goes into the made up "Hollywood" witchcraft that is in pretty much every book about witches ever.  It's real, and I loved it.  

I'm very excited there's going to be another book because I am not ready to let go of Anna and Cas.  The ending of Anna Dressed in Blood is exciting, suspenseful, and fairly cliff-hangery so I definitely want to read more.  

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

#1 in the Mara Dyer series
Published September 27, 2011 by Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing
3 stars
DAC 2011


Goodreads Review
Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.


Review:  This book was a major disappointment for me, and this review may get a bit ranty but I'll try and reign it in.  Now, I'm not saying that it was bad or poorly written.  But I was expecting an exciting and fresh murder mystery/ghost story, and what I got was an overdone and tired paranormal romance.  It's not a poorly written paranormal romance, but it was unoriginal.  People who liked Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick will really enjoy this.  I think if I had read this book in January or February, which is when I first started reading YA, I would have absolutely loved this book.  However I feel like I've read way too many YA books that go down the same road TUoMD did. 


This book divides into two parts for me.  The first part is a ghosty murder mystery where we don't know what is going on with Mara and it full of WTF moments (it's the part I really loved) and the second part falls into the stereotypical paranormal romance.  That's when TUoMD lost a lot of appeal for me.  It became predictable and I started to care less and less about the characters because the focus shifted from an awesome mystery to a boring romance. 

I'll start with the things I liked.  I loved the mystery around why Mara was in the hospital, what happened to her friends, and what the hell is currently going on.  I loved all of the scary stuff that happened and I wanted so much more of that.  When this book is good, it's damn good.  Which is why it was so frustrating too.  I don't understand why this book couldn't have been a paranormal mystery or even horror book.  It had SO much potential and great marketing.  I also LOVE the cover, it's so cool and mysterious. 

I had problems with the ending, mostly because I had a very hard time understanding what was going on.  I have pretty good reading comprehension skills and I found myself re-reading paragraphs because I was trying to understand what was happening.  Now, part of this was probably because I finished the book at around 3am, but it also was the unclear writing.  I think this was partially due to the fact that the story hadn't focused on the mystery for so long that at the end when it tried to go back to that it was underdeveloped. 

The other parts that I had an issue with was how the relationship was handled and how the friendships developed (or didn't).  Mara made a friend at school but he really seemed like a device to introduce Noah, the love interest, and once that relationship had started he was unceremoniously dumped from the story.  This pissed me off.  I hate it when romance=no other character is important in the MC's life.  I kept expecting the friend to make another appearance, but he never did.  He was just gone.  The romantic relationship between Mara and Noah was very Twilight-y.  Noah was too perfect (hot, smart, rich as balls) and Mara was too insecure about him and  her feelings.  And then the paranormal aspect of Noah was also too convenient.  It literally was like "oh, you have magic powers? I have magic powers!  What a coincidence!"  Their whole relationship and the plot devices used to move their relationship were frustrating, illogical, and too perfect to be realistic.

The final issue I had is a minor one that I didn't like but many people may, and that's the writing style used to create humor in conversations.  I know the author was trying to be amusing and teenager-y but it came across as too crude for my taste (and that's saying something because I'm a pretty crude person).  There were just too many immature boner jokes and sexual innuendos that didn't really fit with the voices of the characters nor the overall tone of the book.

Now, don't let this review get you down.  I still really enjoyed this book, even with all of the complaints I have.  I think I feel this way because I was hoping for something amazing, and what I got was a story I'd already read in 20 other books.  Many people will love TUoMD, I just wasn't one of them.

Dead Rules by Randy Russell + Giveaway! (CLOSED)

Published June 21, 2011 by HarperTeen - ARC
2 Stars
DAC 2011

Goodreads Review
Till death
Jana Webster and Michael Haynes were in love. They were destined to be together forever.
Do
But Jana's destiny was fatally flawed. And now she's in Dead School, where Mars Dreamcote lurks in the back of the classroom, with his beguiling blue eyes, mysterious smile, and irresistibly warm touch.
Us
Michael and Jana were incomplete without each other. There was no room for Mars in Jana's life—or death—story. Jana was sure Michael would rush to her side soon.
Part
But things aren't going according to Jana's plan. So Jana decides to do whatever it takes to make her dreams come true—no matter what rules she has to break.

Review:  Dead rules is an interesting take on life after death for teenagers, but instead of focusing on the interesting setting and rules of being dead, Dead Rules gets stuck on a love triangle that borders (ok lands squarely) on obsession. 

I have mixed feelings about this book.  I really liked the setting and the interesting spin on the afterlife.  It has Christian undertones but nothing specific so it can be appreciated by people of different faiths.  I liked the set up for the school and the mystery surrounding it, but we never really learned the truth behind the mystery, nor do we ever really learn the rules of the different classes of students.  We learn what makes a person in one class verses another, but none of the real rules associated with them.  The whole mystery of the book is not explained enough for my liking. 

The best part of the book was Mars and Waytt.  They were the only characters that experienced any growth and with which I felt any connection even though they were the stereotypical paranormal romance "sexy bad boy" and "misunderstood bff".  I loved their history that was revealed and how they learned from each other.  I think the fact that Mars was physically perfect while Wyatt was seriously disfigured added an interesting dynamic to their relationship.  True bromance. 

The biggest problem for me were all of the other characters, and the female characters in particular.  While some characters have interesting development, most are one dimensional fillers.  The side girl characters only had one aspect to their personality which mostly depended on the state of their bodies after their death.  The main character was just scary, and not in a good way.  This part might get a tiny bit spoilery, but not too much.  Jana is in love with her boyfriend who is still alive and on earth.  And by love, I mean obsessed.  Jana is crazy and seems very selfish.  She says that Michael "completes her" and "makes her a better version of herself."  WHAT!?  That is not love, that is obsession, and it is not healthy as a human or a ghost.  She has such an obsessive "love" for Michael that she wants to kill him so they can be together.  Again I say that is NOT love.  I'm sorry, but if I was dead KILLING MY BOYFRIEND would NOT be the solution to my problems.  If Jana had learned that she wanted Michael to live a long and happy life and THAT was true love, then I would have been ok with it, but THAT NEVER HAPPENS.  She just jumps to the next guy.  Seriously, messed up. 

Overall Dead Rules is a paranormal romance that had a lot of potential to be a very exciting mystery but fell short because it was stuck on the love triangle aspect of the story.  Completely ineffective satire.

The giveaway is now closed, congratulations to MrRobirabbit!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Published in 2006 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

5 Stars

Goodreads Summary

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Narrated by Death, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young foster girl living outside of Munich in Nazi Germany. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she discovers something she can't resist- books. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever they are to be found.

With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids, as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

Review:  The Book Thief is a beautiful and unique novel about one of the most horrible times in human history.  It is a brilliantly constructed look at how the Nazi party controlled all of the citizens of Germany through fear and intimidation and the lives of citizens who dared fight back.  This book does more than describe the atrocity of the concentration camps and the crimes against the Jewish people; it shows the compassion and courage of the people willing to save them.   

The characters are presented in a way that allows the reader to understand their actions and motives and connect with them on a deep emotional level.  The characters are tangible, their emotions wonderfully described, making them believable and relatable to the reader.  The use of death as an omnipresent narrator weary of the crimes humans continually commit against each other is a wonderful balance between exasperation at humanity's need to repeat the mistakes of their fathers and admiration of compassion that can be shown toward people who are truly in need.  Death tells the story sprinkled with humor and a sense of wonder that humanity can still surprise him with its rare bouts of selfless goodness.

This book is not light and easy fare.  It is heavy material about the need for people to stand up for what they know is right, even if it means facing foes much more power and control.  You as the reader will grow to love the characters for which they are, the mistakes they make, and the dreams they have.   The Book Thief does an excellent job of presenting the German people as individuals with their own opinions on morality who were fighting personal battles against tyranny and oppression.  These are people just like the reader, not the single minded evil entity in which many other World War II stories seem to lump the entire German community.

Overall The Book Thief is an emotional account of how World War II affected everyone in the world through the one entity that connects us all, death.