NightLizard's Cave

I was a bit tensed to see the rating for this volume, especially knowing is gonna continue with the main story and I am so glad it was not how it was presumed.

For me - it was perfect.

I loved every single page of it and I am in a wait for August 8, 2017

Jennifer Lynn Barnes bacame my auto-buy & 5 star read.
I truly love her books and this one was the best for me in the series so far. Those series never felt more than an YA Criminal Minds as in this, 3rd book. :)
I am thrilled to read the 4th (and I assume) the last book in the series and I am gonna continue to monitoring the work of this amazing author.

*Digital review copy provided by NetGalley & the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

2.75

I am a real Pride and Prejudice fan and I also read a huge amount of manga, so when I found this combination of two things I like I got a bit anxious. I was afraid I wasn't like it and I was fairly correct from one side.
Though I can say that it IS a Pride and Prejudice portrayal, most of the time it doesn't felt like that at all. It felt more like a discourtesy, a farce rather than a comedy-drama and I found myself simply wincing at some pages.
The art was tolerable, but do not complement the story and felt to is too caricatured for all the action.
As a standalone manga novel it wasn't so bad, but I think you can fairly enjoy this story if you go blindly, not knowing anything about the original Pride and Prejudice, like nothing at all. 

*Digital review copy provided by NetGalley & the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

C21st Gods #1 was an issue long introduction, felt even more like a teaser.
Tho it looked like smth I would really love: detective story, a bit gruesome illustrations, futuristic/noir-style setting with an uncertain, mystery story line I was a bit disappointed.
It was a bit "rushed" and as I said before, it gave me the feeling of a teaser and with 24 pages long issue I was expecting a solid start to the story, where there were none.
Tho, I want to give it a try when other installments are out, I hope for a more slow build process and more background for the main character.         

5 stars for emotions it brought up to surface. It was a pure RAGE!
It is my first ever Morgan Matson book and it spoke with me on so much different levels.
There was times when I hated it so much and that's why I loved it so much as well. Does it make any sense?
I don't even know where to start...

Ok, some Fanart first


SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

"Hi! I am Emily. I am tall, athletic brunette teenager with the nice house, parents who love each other, with my little brother I adore so of course I am going to splash my low self-esteem over half of this book, moaning about how I'm just not good enough and I don't "deserve" anything, how terribly shy I am and how I am just SHOCKED every time someone remembers my name...even if it's been the same person... It is soooo obvious I have zero confidence, and don't want to believe in myself, cuz come on (!) I totally have a reasons for that behavior!
Oh...Totally forgot. I have a best friend Sloane. Sloane is amazing! She can do anything! I wish I could be like her, but every time (!) she tries to help me to "come out of my shell" or she tries to do smth nice only for me I gave her a hard time and never want to even TRY. Oh! I remember one time she put a lot of work in one night, like she got us fake IDs and she planned our outfits cuz she wanted badly to see the band we both liked in the bar, but for absolutely no reason I said no to her just in front of this place and when she said that she is going there without me, i felt like someone had punched me, because NATURALLY I JUST ASSUMED that Sloane would leave with me, cuz come on, I am a victimize, pathetic character here, she has to "save" me and make my life comfortable. I ruined her evening that she planned for so long, but do not worry, she is not a grudge-holder, she quickly forgives.
She left one day and the thing is that I live in this girl's shadow and I am so dependent on her that I basically can not function without her, cuz remember - I am terribly shy. My dependence is so extreme, that I would do anything to live in that shadow again.
AND! I have hope - she left me a "to do" list! Now I have this thing to depend on and after a while I was doing a great job, I found new friends that I don't really care about, cuz really, who does that, right? The important thing is that they care for me. So of course I am gonna call my new friend that just got cheated and tell her all of my kissing and going after a guy who has a long time girlfriend.
I forgot to mention that I also have a "boyfriend" experience, but it did not last, cuz he is a good boy, but his friend is a moron and I am just naturally selfish, but still terribly shy bitch, so it didn't work out. (sorry, it was so random^^)
Long story short. Eventually I found my best friend and I got another girls guy, sadly Sloane was not really how I pictured her this whole time and she lives kinda far away from me, but don't you worry guys, like a true parasite, I found another carrier - Frank. So everything worked out! The End."

I loved this book! I brought so much anger in me! About Emily...she wasn't all terrible, but the main problem for me was, that I have a shy friend and I know how much work it takes her to change and work on herself and that's not what I saw with Emily character. Emily is a fake.

It took me forever to read, but loved every sentence of it!

I made some fan art as well :

It's been a while for me to write smth on a book... ok... it is been a while to read a book. I started this one so long ago and then life happened and I couldn't get to it and I tried to read it one chapter at a time, but even that did not work.
Then, I was going away from my job, like for good, I had a great leaving party and I was in a great mood, so when I came home and saw this fellow lying there...half unread... it made me sad. So I finished it and I can say now, that I would read any book written by this author.

This book was simply great. It is so similar and unexpectedly unique for its own genre. It gives us magic in a fascinating and frightened way, it gives us a story that would made you second-guessing everyone, it give you hint of a romance that is not cleared and not thrown in your face and it gives you deep, complex, full-developed characters that you want to know and learn more about.

I am definitely continue with this series.
Recommend.

This book made an emotional mess out of me so far...

I wanna read it till the end and I do not want it to end.

1. What book is on your nightstand now?
The Winner’s Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

2. What was the last truly great book that you read?
If  “great”  in the meaning of just really liking it – The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, if by the definition “greatness” then I haven’t read anything truly great in a while.

3. If you could meet any writer – dead or alive – who would it be? And what would you want to know?
Rex Stout and I would talk about his Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin characters.

4. What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?
I do not think people who knows me would be surprised to find any type of books on my shelves, but people who do not know me too well, are kind of freaked out on the amount of “true crime” and criminology type of books I own.

5. How do you organize your personal library?
By author, series and size.

6. What book have you always meant to read and haven’t gotten around to yet? Anything you feel embarrassed never to have read?
LOL, that’s just gonna a loooong list. Ok, some of the classics books, some books I bought and have them on my shelves for over the year.
But.. Actually, I am not sure I am embarrassed by the fact, I like to take my time and I have no plan on reading order, I am reading what I feel to read, so no pressure. ;)

7. Disappointing, overrated, just not good: what book did you feel you were supposed to like but didn't? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?
I never give up on a book, no matter how I find it, I give it a chance until the last page and then let myself decide how I feel about it.
From the popular books, I was a bit disappointed in An Ember in the Ashes – but mostly with the main character, the story itself was very good.

8. What kinds of stories are you drawn to? Any you stay clear of?
I like thrillers and a good detective story with a hint of romance (not much of it), with a  world that revolves around politics, power and mind games. Fantasy books with similar premises.

I am kinda stay away from contemporary books and books that deal with "problematic: issues, I used to read both genres a lot, but I am taking a break now.

9. If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?
Too provoking question for me :D

10. What do you plan to read next?
My reading mood changes very fast, but I hope to get to Uprooted by Naomi Novik.

That was....


Jennifer Lynn Barnes knows exactly what I want! She became one of my favorite authors with her The Naturals series. Her books became a 5-star works for me and now this book happened and unfortunately I can not give it more than 5! :)
Auto-buy author for me for sure!

Btw... around pages 115-120 I found a rhyme... XD
"It's probably nothing. Vivvie's probably fine. I didn't believe that, and I didn't know why."

Even tho I got the whole thing and all the twists earlier than it was reveled, it really do not spoil a bit for me, I was fully engaged and I finished it in one go! I opened it, I read it and closed it!
I seems to do it with all of her books! :)

Those series are a mix between the ABC's Scandal and her characters from The Naturals series.
Seriously, you can see it right away.
Tess is like Cassie, Asher (my star so far) is a lot like Michael, Henry is a lot like (mylove) Dean, Vivvie is Sloane and Emilia as Lia.... and I more than happy with those similarities, I love both sets of characters and they all have their own personalities, but it was very easy to adjust to them seeing those familiar behaviors with The Naturals.

This book was smart, those characters were smart, the plot was smart and the whole book was simply gorgeous!

I am gone to order myself the second one. :)

4.25

Ok, that book was a very pleasant surprise and I find the fact that it has been written in 1990 one of the pluses I got reading it for the first time in 2016, because It was such a true and real journey to the past. This book was quite a thrilling detective story.

I am a fan of Keith McCarthy and his Eisenmenger-Flemming Forensic Mysteries
series about Dr. John Eisenmenger, a former forensic pathologist and I was searching for detective books where the main character would be a pathologist and I am glad I found it.

Now, about the book itself. A few times I thought I know exactly who the killer is, but the best part - I was wrong every single time. Well, I guessed it sooner anyway, but much later than I usually do. It was interesting, like really kept me reading it without breaks, It made you doubt everything and everyone (well, almost everyone) and I really appreciate it in those type of books.

I like the way characters were build, they were very "human" and it was easy to connect with their feelings.
My only "concern" was a niece of the main character Kay. I understand the situation with her mother, I understand that she is different, genius and all... but the way she behaved herself was a bit "too much" for me sometimes. It got me thinking how psychologically unstable this child is. I wasn't really on the same page with the Kay's reaction on her behavior. I also do not have kids and I also have a niece that is a bit "older" for her age and I do relate to this situation for many other reasons and that's why I was conflicted by those parts sometimes. I am not saying it is a bad thing, just a bit disturbing for me.

I do not talk much in my reviews usually, so I am gonna stop here and go and find myself a second book from this series.

4.3
My second Kasie West book and I liked it even more then the first one!

A long time ago, I think in 2000, there was a movie called Love & Basketball, which I really like.
It tells a story about a girl - Monica, who in 1981 in L.A., moves in next door to Quincy. They're 11, and both want to play in the NBA, just like Quincy's dad. Their love-hate relationship lasts into high school, with Monica's edge and Quincy's top-dog attitude separating them, except when Quincy's parents argue and he climbs through Monica's window to sleep on the floor... (I do not wanna spoil anything, so I will stop here), but this book reminded me about this movie.

It was good. Really. It was easy to read, same as the previous one, I starting to think that all Kasie West books are like that and I like this fact) :)
Sport, family, friends, fun and a bit of drama. All I needed.

I am in for the next book!

3.75

This is my first time reading a Kasie West book and it was definitely an adorable read.
I finished up the entire book in no time. It was very easy to fly through, it was sweet and enjoyable.

I like how the story turned to be a bit bigger than just a simple romance book and though it is hard for me to relate to it now, I guess a lot of teenagers would find themselves connected to some valuable topic discussed in this book.

I liked to see Gia experiences change and personal growth. I liked the way she learned how to cope with things and how she started to notice all the difference between her representation of the world and the people around her and the reality.  
I like the way how all the characters in this book reflected  and finally "shaped" Gia. It was done very nicely.
Overall, this was a very good book and it gave me a green light to start reading other Kasie West novels!

Such a sweet read!
And one of my fav. from Harlequin comics so far.

Got a solid story and a solid relationship solution and something tells me that there are separate stories about main character sisters,  I need to check that out. 
Now all I have left to do is to find this Love Mansion...:)))