These Vengeful Souls

Today's review is on These Vengeful Souls by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas. It is 287 pages long and is published by Swoon reads. The cover is a blue gray with a pendant in the center that has a lock of hair in it. As it is the third volume of These Vicious Masks trilogy you need to have read the first two books in order to understand the story. There is very mild foul language, no sexuality and Mild violence in this novel. The story is told from third-person close of the main character Evelyn. There Be Spoilers Ahead. 

From the back of the book- England, 1833. On the run with the grieving Sebastian Braddock, Evelyn wants two things: to be reunited with her friends, and to get revenge on the evil Captain Goode. Not only has he misused his and Sebastian's powers to rack up a terrible death toll, but he's also completely destroyed any hope of Evelyn or her friends regaining the lives they once knew.

Evelyn is determined to make Captain good pay for what he's done, but is her revenge worth risking the lives of Sebastian and her friends? Or is it better to flee the city and focus on staying alive? And with the Captain spreading lies about Sebastian in an attempt to flush them out of hiding and turn the populace against them, does she even have a choice at all? 

Review- Good but slightly unsatisfying ending to a fun trilogy. We pick up exactly where the last volume left off with Evelyn and Sebastian hiding in a church trying to find their friends. Captain Goode has taken complete control of the society either by force or by promises. In addition he has used his influence to turn London against Evelyn and her friends’, Sebastian in particular. So there's lots of problems to solve in this volume and not a lot of time to solve them in. In the end the bad guys are dealt with, the good guys win, and all's right with the world. But I felt unsatisfied with the ending. I think part of that is because we don't get to see Evelyn and Sebastian really do anything . The epilogue is a letter that Sebastian has written for the next person who will inherit his poison powers, and that's the end. I don't think the authors are intending to write any more following these characters, but I would like them too. I would like to see when Evelyn and Sebastian do, they talked of going to India to help fight against the colonial powers but that's all. So I would have to say that this volume is the weakest of the trilogy but if you've read the other two you should read this one just to follow them all the way to the end and to see Evelyn finish her character development. 

I give this final volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing from my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

French Like Moi: A Midwesterner in Paris

Today’s post is on French Like Moi: A Midwesterner in Paris by Scott Dominic Carpenter. It is 256 pages long and is published by Traveler’s Tales. The cover is a picture of two shoes one nice man’s work shoe and the other a beat-up tennis shoe. There is some foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. The intended reader is someone who likes funny memoirs. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- When Scott Carpenter moves from Minnesota to Paris, little does he suspect the dramas that will unfold: scheming neighbors, police denunciations, surly demonstrators, cooking disasters, medical mishaps—not to mention all those lectures about cheese! Nothing in the City of Light can be taken for granted, where even trips to the grocery store lead to adventure.

Review- An amusing memoir about a man living in Paris and all the odd things that happen to him there. Carpenter has the chance to live in Paris, France for a year and he does, also bringing his family with him. Thus begins his adventures in Paris and dealing with the French people, who are so funny in their reactions to him and his very American ways. Carpenter gives the reader insight into living in Paris as an American and all the differences in day-to-day life. It is a fun read with an amusing narrator and I would recommend this memoir.

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

Rasetsu, Vol. 2

Today’s post is on Rasetsu, Vol. 2 by Chika Shiomi. It is 208 pages long and is published by Shojo Beat. The cover has Rasetsu and Kuryu and it. As it is the second volume of the second series you need to have both Yurara and the first volume in this series. The intended reader is someone who likes horror manga and strong female leads. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this manga. The story is told from  third person close of the main characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Not knowing it's the solution to her curse, Yako thinks that Rasetsu's quest for a boyfriend seems frivolous. Nothing's trivial about Rasetsu's next exorcism, however, especially when she's suddenly overpowered by the emotions of the spirit! 

Review- The blurb for this volume is just the first story and the rest of the volume has some great character development. We see how Rasetsu got cursed by an evil spirit and how much it really does affect her. She is giving it her all to survive and search for a way to safe herself. The last story has some interesting details that I would like to see more of which is the other team member’s powers. Kuryu can summon or control spirits in a way that he has not told his teammates. It saves the day but I would like to learn more about the spiritual powers in this world and we see the ghost Yurara for the first time in this series. I am very curious about where this series is going.

I give this volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

 

A Tangled Web: A Cyberstalker, a Deadly Obsession, and the Twisting Path to Justice

Today's post is on A Tangled Web: A Cyberstalker, a Deadly Obsession, and the Twisting Path to Justice by Leslie Rule. it is 287 pages long and is published by Citadel Press. The cover has an iron grate with a spider’s web in it. The intended reader is someone who is interested in true crime. There is mild foul language, discussion of sex and sexuality, and violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- In the tradition of her acclaimed mother, Ann Rule, author of The Stranger Beside Me, bestselling author Leslie Rule delivers a riveting true story for our time--as she exposes the years-long trail of a sadistic sociopath, identity thief, and killer at the dark heart of a real-life fatal attraction . . .
It was a bleak November in 2012 when Cari Lea Farver vanished from Omaha, Nebraska. Cari, thirty-seven, was a devoted mother, reliable employee, and loyal friend--not the type to shirk responsibilities, abandon her son, and run off on an adventure while her dying father took his last breaths. Yet, the many texts from her phone indicated she had done just that.
It appeared that Cari had dumped her new boyfriend, quit her job, and relinquished custody of her son to her mother--all by text. While Cari's boyfriend, Dave Kroupa, and her supervisor were bewildered by her abrupt disappearance, they accepted the texts at face value. Her mother, Nancy Raney, however, was alarmed and reported Cari missing. Police were skeptical of her claims that a cyber impostor had commandeered her daughter's phone and online identity.
While Nancy was afraid for Cari, Dave Kroupa was growing afraid of her, for he believed Cari was stalking him. Never seen or heard, the stalker was aware of his every move and seemed obsessed by his casual girlfriend, Shanna "Liz" Golyar, often calling her "a fat whore" in the twelve thousand emails and texts he received in a disturbing three-year deluge.
How did the stalker know Dave's phone numbers immediately after he changed them, the names of his lady friends, even what he wore as he watched TV? He and Liz reported death threats, vandalism, and burglaries, but the stalker remained at large. The threats were vicious, vile and often obscene, sent mostly via text and always in Cari's name. There was some truth in the messages, but all of them contained one big lie. The culprit was not Cari -- but had killed and planned to kill again.
With mesmerizing detail and compelling narrative skill, Leslie Rule tracks every step of the heart-pounding path to long-awaited justice--from a sociopath's twisted past to the deadly deception and the high-tech forensics that condemned the killer to prison, where the tangled web of manipulations still draws trusting souls into danger.

Review- An interesting and twisted true crime story that Rule handles very well. This is a very horrifying story with a real psychopath as the killer. Dave Kroupa is newly single and just wants to have fun. So he turns to the internet to meet ladies who want the same thing. Unfortunately he meets Shanna ‘Liz’ Golyar and she becomes obsessed with him. The writing is very well done, Rule has access to the people who are still dealing with the crimes Golyar committed, and she handles the victims with care and respect. My only complaint with this book is whenever Rule introduces a person to the reader she does a full bio on them, by that I mean she discusses their family back to grandparents, their early life, everything. I, personally, did not feel like I needed all that information for every person we met over the course of the book. It  distracted from the story. But in the end it is a good true crime book about a very twisted killer and the people she harmed along the way, so if you like true crime then you should read this one.

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

Skip Beat!, Vol. 18

Today’s post in Skip Beat!, Vol. 18 by Yoshiki Nakamura. It is 200 pages long and is published by Shojo Beat. As it is the eighteenth volume of the long running series you need to have read the first seventeen volumes. The cover has Kyoko and Ren on it looking at the reading. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this volume. The story is told from third person close of the main characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Kyoko hasn't had a Love Me Section job in a while, and this newest assignment is pushing her limits. She's now the personal assistant to Koo Hizuri, a Japanese actor turned Hollywood star, and everyone knows how assistants are treated in Hollywood! Can Kyoko see past Koo's meanness, or will his nastiness just make her demons worse?! 

Review- This volume we spend so much time with Ren’s father Koo Hizuri and Kyoko. Koo and Kyoko argue and fuss at each other but in the end Kyoko learns more about acting and Koo realizes the kind of talent that Kyoko has. Koo gives Kyoko an assignment to prove her acting ability and lots of advice along the way. He asks her to play his son, Koun. Of course as the reader we know that Koun is Ren and that makes everything weird for us but it is a brilliant plan in the story itself. Kyoko is struggling with getting new roles other than mean girl and she wants to do more. Koo tells her to takes the roles she can get and learn to make all the mean girls different from each other. A solid volume in a fantastic series. I cannot wait to see what Kyoko gets into next.

I give this volume Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money. 

The Conference of Birds

Today's Review is on The Conference of Birds by Ransom Riggs. It is 325 pages long and is published by penguin Random House LLC. The cover is a black and white picture of a little girl facing away from the reader. as it is the fifth novel in his Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series, you need to have read the first four novels to understand the story. There is very mild foul language, no sexuality and Mild violence in this novel. The story is told from first-person close of the main character Jacob. There be spoilers ahead

From the back of the book-  A fragile peace. 

An apocryphal warning. 

Chaos waiting in the heart of the storm.

With his dying words H-  Jacob’s final connection to his grandfather Abe's secret life-  entrusts Jacob with a mission:  Deliver the newly contacted peculiar Noor Pradesh to an operative known only as V.

Noor is being hunted. She is the subject of a prophecy one that foretells a looming apocalypse. Sav Noor- save the future of all peculiardom..

With only a few bewildering clues to follow, Jacob must figure out how to find V, the most enigmatic, and most powerful, all Abe’s former associates. But she is in hiding and she never, ever, wants to be found.

Time is running out. But even as Jacob and his friends are working feverishly to decipher the prophecy, it's warnings…

When the prisons are blown to dust

And Chaos Reigns 

Are beginning…

The old ones from their sleep or torn

To come true.

An age of strife will soon be born

With enemies behind him and the unknown ahead, Jacob Portman's story continues as he takes a brave Leap Forward into the Conference of Birds, the newest installment in the Beloved, number one best-selling Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series. 

Review- A strong fifth novel In The Peculiar Children series. We pick up right where the fourth novel left off with Jacob finding Noor and trying to escape from the American peculiar to get back to his friends at the devil's acre Loop. Just now what was very fast paced with not much time and a lot going on. Villain from the first trilogy is back we don't really see him in this in this volume but we see his handiwork. Some character issues from previous novels are resolved in this novel, and one of the missing characters has been found but what kind of damage she has survived really has yet to be seen. I found the love story part of this novel very distracting and a little annoying. I want more adventure from this series and less teenage angsty love story. But all in all this was a strong volume and I am interested to see where we're going to go in the final novel of this trilogy. 

 I of this novel of Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review read this book from my local library.

Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture

Today’s post is on  Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture by Grace Elizabeth Hale. It is 371 pages long and is published by University of North Carolina Press. The cover is a picture of the B-52’s in concert. The intended reader is someone who is interested in music history and how one small town grew new music. There is mild foul language, discussion of sex and sexuality, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- In the summer of 1978, the B-52's conquered the New York underground. A year later, the band's self-titled debut album burst onto the Billboard charts, capturing the imagination of fans and music critics worldwide. The fact that the group had formed in the sleepy southern college town of Athens, Georgia, only increased the fascination. Soon, more Athens bands followed the B-52's into the vanguard of the new American music that would come to be known as "alternative," including R.E.M., who catapulted over the course of the 1980s to the top of the musical mainstream. As acts like the B-52's, R.E.M., and Pylon drew the eyes of New York tastemakers southward, they discovered in Athens an unexpected mecca of music, experimental art, DIY spirit, and progressive politics--a creative underground as vibrant as any to be found in the country's major cities.
In Athens in the eighties, if you were young and willing to live without much money, anything seemed possible. Cool Town reveals the passion, vitality, and enduring significance of a bohemian scene that became a model for others to follow. Grace Elizabeth Hale experienced the Athens scene as a student, small-business owner, and band member. Blending personal recollection with a historian's eye, she reconstructs the networks of bands, artists, and friends that drew on the things at hand to make a new art of the possible, transforming American culture along the way. In a story full of music and brimming with hope, Hale shows how an unlikely cast of characters in an unlikely place made a surprising and beautiful new world. 

Review- A well written history about music in Athens, GA and the bands who made it there. Hale was a student at University of Georgia, she was involved in this scene, and knew all the major players in it too; so she is writing from a place of knowledge and personal experience. Hale gives an excellent background for the culture of the area, the people who lived here, the kids who moved there, and everything in between. At times it is a little too much with so many people. Places, dates, and other information that it can be overwhelming but the overall narrative of counterculture and the musicians who made the music is very detailed. She explores her topic by time starting with the start of the Scene and the creation of the B-52’s and why they started making music. She ends the book with her time in Athens and how it changed the course of her life. If you are interested in musical history then you should give this one a try. 

I give this book a Three out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.