My rating: 2 of 5 stars

If asked to describe this book in one word, I would have to go with: frustrating.

I enjoyed the story, despite the ending which to be honest didn’t really come as a shock. I’m not exactly happy about the predictable ending and its circumstances, but enough on that.

While I loved Kate and her strength as a person in the first book, here she is reduced to a lovesick puppy constantly questioning herself, Henry and their relationship. I’ve lost track of how many pep talks Kate received and how many times she was assured by others of Henry’s love for her. It grew very tedious and downright infuriating. But Henry too feels like a changed person. He is just so non-communicative and distant during most of the book.

I found myself rolling my eyes not just once and pleading with Henry and Kate to just communicate and talk about all their worries or “problems” that they think they might be having, but Henry especially kept avoiding Kate.

I absolutely loved the fact that we got more of James this time around. He is a character that intrigues me and especially his relationship with Kate. Hope we get even more in book three.

I was scared of Persephone’s entrance but she proved to be an interesting enough character. One I didn’t mind reading about.

One thing I absolutely missed in this book was the great mother-daughter relationship that we had in the first installment. But based on the ending, I think we could get more of that again in the next one.

To sum up, “Goddess Interrupted” is a sequel with a nice enough premise and storyline but a poor execution. It fails to deliver mostly due to a whiny and insecure protagonist. But nevertheless I will definitely check out book three in order to see how Aimee will handle the cliffhanger of this book.

An ARC was provided by Netgalley. “Goddess Interrrupted” is scheduled for a March 27, 2012 release.

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This is not a pretty book. It’s dark and it’s depressing. And on top of that, it’s an amazing read.

Summers doesn’t dwell long to plunge into the action. We get a brief glimpse of Sloane and her life before all hell breaks loose. Living with an abusive father and the fact that her sister left her, Sloane actually welcomes the end of the world. The first attack happens and we flash forward seven days. We never really get told what exactly went down in those seven days, but the aftermath of it gives us an inkling that it wasn’t pretty.

Sloane is not your typical heroine. She is marked by what life handed her and that’s what makes her such an interesting character. I haven’t read many books where your main character is in such a depressing state as Sloane is. I thought I would grow tired of it but it was actually amazing to have a character that is so different and who has lost all her reasons for living and to see her handle all of her bleak feelings during this crazy time. And you want her to overcome this darkness, you want her to be happy admidst all the insanity that surrounds her.

If asked to describe this book, I wouldn’t necessarily define it as a zombie novel. The zombies are actually more of a backdrop for the real story in this book. I love me some action and gore and believe me, you will get your fix here, but I was amazed that I found the characters’ stories to be more intriguing and fascinating. After setting this book down, I’ve found myself still thinking about these six characters and their ordeals.

Sloane is joined by five other young characters, all high school students who got thrust together and barricaded themselves in the high school. It’s not an easy alliance, these characters most often don’t see eye to eye and we get quite a lot of confrontations. It’s amazing to me how real this book and especially its characters feel. All of them are relatable and most of all believable.

I took my time reading this book. Most often you tend to skip over words or sentences when reading but here I savored every syllable, no matter how raw and painful they might have been.

If you enjoy a book that leaves you at times shocked, depressed, gasping, emotionally hurt and above all contemplative after finishing it, then “This Is Not A Test” is for you.


An ARC was provided by Netgalley. “This Is Not A Test” is scheduled for a June 19, 2012 release.

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Martin wrote in the acknowledgments that “The last one was a bitch” and it shows. I don’t know what to make of this book. I’m sad about only giving 3 stars but at the same time I feel like those 3 stars were generous. I just didn’t really care for this book that much which is sad because I love the series as a whole.

Before I started reading “A Feast for Crows” I’ve been hearing that people thought this was Martin’s weakest book in the SoFaI series so far, so imagine my surprise when I’ve found myself enjoying it immensely. Thus, I initially had high expectations for book 5.

I think part of the problem with “A Dance with Dragons” stems from its length. Yes, all of Martin’s book are long and I have no problem with that. It is refreshing to have such rich world building but in this book, its length really showed. I found myself almost skipping through some chapters or passages.

Whether you enjoy this book or not is of course dependent on one’s favorite characters. I’m quite the Lannister girl myself, so book 4 was a dream come true. Book 5 put mostly Daenerys and Jon and a lot of the Greyjoys in the spotlight. While I’ve always been intrigued by Dany’s and Jon’s storylines, they didn’t really grab or thrill me this time around. Sure, during the last chapters this all changed. Martin has a way of putting his characters through hell and leaving you with cliffhangers that have you biting your nails like crazy.

The amount of Greyjoys was definitely something that I didn’t enjoy. At times there were multiple chapters in a row of “background” characters that I just didn’t care about and it was hard getting through those.

This may sound all negative, but despite its many flaws “A Dance with Dragons” is still a worthwhile read and a nice addition to this fantastic book series. It’ll be interesting to see where Martin takes his characters next and what turmoils lie ahead for them.

Let’s hope for book 6 Martin can deliver something on par with “A Storm of Swords”.


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Based on the reviews at Goodreads I was expecting this book to be nothing short of perfect. Imagine my surprise when I was 20% into this and still not liking it. Usually I tend to agree on opinions and ratings but this was an exception. I’m still baffled as to why it received such high ratings. For me, it was a complete mess.

I guess the main contributing factor to my disliking this book was the writing style. I know it has been praised but it just left me disconnected to the characters and the overall story. I found myself nearly skipping over paragraphs and rolling my eyes at depictions time and time again. Speaking of the story, again, having read many young adult books, “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” follows the same formula. There was nothing new to be found in between the pages. Not even the “twist” towards the end came as a surprise.

Let’s get back to the characters – again, I didn’t feel any kind of connection to any of them. The most interesting and enjoyable character was Karou’s ex-boyfriend Kazimir and he wasn’t really featured that much. Karou’s and Akiva’s “romance” felt too contrived. Even after the big reveal towards the end the relationship seemed very much off. Not to mention that these chapters after the reveal were pretty much the most uninteresting and boring ones.

You know you’re not enjoying a book when you start your Kindle and think “OK, I have to get this book finished, so that I can start something new”. It’s sad, but Goodreads, I guess this is one where we don’t agree on. But it doesn’t matter, since I seem to be in the minority with my low rating and I’m sure many people will devour this book and its sequel(s). I just know I won’t be one of them.

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No one ever really dies as long as they took the time to leave us with fond memories.
~ Chris Sorensen

This past night my grandpa died. He was 87.
I’ve never experienced the loss of a close family member before, we’ve been really blessed this far.
Luckily my grandpa didn’t suffer. It was quick. Within 7 hours he was gone. He didn’t feel pain and was surrounded by loved ones when he took his final breath.

He was a wonderful and inspiring person. At the age of 21 he lost his left arm in the Second World War. He could have died then and there, but the grenade splinters claimed the life of his friend instead. He met my grandma shortly after the war and they’ve been married for over 64 years.
Right to this day they’ve been in love with each other. Deeply. Holding hands, supporting each other during many health setbacks – a poster book marriage.

We grandchildren never questioned why our grandpa only had one arm, and he never let that drag him down either.
My grandpa’s life was his garden. He always had a project, hauling stones, planting patches, taking care of his roses.
I’m not a religious person, far from it, but I believe that there is something out there – my grandpa must have known that his time would come to an end.
In the morning on the day he died, he went out to his garden, sat in his chair and took it all in. He had never done that before.
In the afternoon he told my sister “I have to finish my work in the garden”.
Late afternoon he collapsed there and was taken to the hospital. He died there 6 hours later, peacefully falling asleep.
My mom and I were at home while the rest of my family was there with him. The last time I saw him was on Sunday, family dinner, where he ordered a double grappa.
This is my last memory that I have of him. I’m glad to have it, him, full of life, laughing and joking.

I’ll miss you grandpa. I hope wherever you are that there’s a beautiful garden and a grappa waiting for you.

Additionally I took some experimental photos in my hometown Munich during the spring festival that took place a couple of months ago.

Spoilerish Review

I’m a sucker when it comes to Greek mythology, so when I read the summary for “The Goddess Test”, it immediately piqued my interest. Aimee Carter draws bits and pieces from Greek mythology and intertwines them with a fresh take on them.
That really surprised me a bit since I imagined Hades aka Henry to be this evil god of the underworld and kept expecting a big twist or something, but he is actually just a nice guy.

I really enjoyed all the various relationships – the bond between Kate and her mom was something that completely captivated me. It felt so real and it was just a lovely relationship. The unexpected friendship between Kate and Ava was another highlight.
It was great to see Kate and Henry’s connection and love slowly building as opposed to it being head-over-heels. I didn’t quite buy their love in the end since I still felt that Henry wasn’t really over Persephone but that didn’t stop me from rooting for Kate and Henry and I was especially looking forward to reading the scenes about their “evening dates”.

I must say that initially I was more invested in Kate’s life before entering Eden which looking back now after finishing the book I can safely say that I enjoyed both aspects equally.

One thing I’m definitely interested in seeing more of is James. His character really intrigued me and I think there’s a lot more to tell about him.

“The Goddess Test” is a fresh take on Greek mythology with a strong female character at its center and proves to be a great start of a new book series.

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