Book: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, written by Seth Grahame-Smith and narrated by Scott Holst

Run Time: 10 hours

Source: audiobook via Audible

Genre: Fiction/Historical Fiction and Paranormal

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Goodreads Summary: Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother’s bedside. She’s been stricken with something the old-timers call “Milk Sickness.”

“My baby boy…” she whispers before dying.

Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother’s fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.

When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, “henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose…” Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.

While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.

Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

I liked Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  It was a fun listen.

It felt very much like an actual biography of Abraham Lincoln, but with vampires thrown in.  If it were not for the vampires, I would have sworn I was listening to an actual biography of Abraham Lincoln.  I’m not sure how much research the author did, but it really felt like he knew his stuff.

I really liked how vampires were the basis for Lincoln running for senate and president, and that it’s the basis for the civil war.  It’s a really interesting take on Lincoln, the civil war and slavery, and I really want to read up on the civil war now.

I thought Holst did a great job of narrating the book, and it didn’t feel like it was 10 hours long.

I only have a couple complaints.  One: there was not as much vampire-hunting as I expected.  I don’t know why but I was thinking it would be more about him as a vampire-hunter…instead it ended up being more about why he didn’t like vampires.

And two: I wasn’t a fan of the ending.  Abraham Lincoln becomes a vampire because Henry doesn’t want an interesting man to die.  It just doesn’t fit.  And not only that but after the build-up of a struggling writer getting Lincoln’s journals and writing his story, we get absolutely nothing about what happens afterwards.

It gets a 3 out of 5.  It was entertaining but not spectactular.

Book: Barely Breathing by Rebecca Donovan

Book Info: Publisher unknown- likely self-published; 432 pages

Source: Purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA/Contemporary

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Goodreads Summary: Emma’s struggle with an abusive home life came to a heart pounding conclusion in the final chapters of Reason to Breathe. Now everyone in Weslyn knows Emma’s secret, but Carol can’t hurt Emma anymore. Some are still haunted by the horror of that night, and some must face the repercussions of their choices. Fans of Rebecca Donovan’s debut novel will discover there’s still much to learn about Emma’s life.

After finishing Reason To Breathe, I immediately bought and started to read Barely Breathing.  I just had to know how things worked out for Emma and if she would be okay.

I loved it just as much as I loved Reason To Breathe (now known as RTB), and seeing how Emma and those around her dealt with the aftermath of RTB.  It’s just as emotional and intense as RTB, and I had to put it down several times because it is such a haunting book.

I liked that things weren’t easy for Emma, and that she still has a lot of things to work out.  One of the very few things I didn’t like was the storyline with Jonathan.  I wasn’t surpised that there was a connection between them.  It was a very predictable element in an otherwise unpredictable story.  I thought her relationship with her mother was interesting and dysfunctional, and I was glad to see Emma make the decision to not have her mother in her life.

As for the cliffhanger endings, they’re killing me!  I just want to read the next book so I know what happens!  I understand why she just walked away, and after everything that’s happened, I don’t really blame her.  `

I love Evan and how supportive and caring he is, and I love how Sara is such a great friend.  I just want things to be okay between Evan and Emma.  I really do.  She needs some happiness and peace.

My only other complaint about Barely Breathing is the random question marks scattered throughout the book.  I don’t know if they were supposed to be commas or hyphens- which I assume they were- and somehow ended up as question marks.  It wasn’t a huge distraction or anything, but it is slightly strange.

I just…I really don’t know what else to say.  I’m absolutely stunned by Barely Breathing.  It gets a 5 out of 5.

Book: Reason To Breathe by Rebecca Donovan

Book Info: Published by Smashwords; 374 pages

Source: Purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA/Contemporary

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Goodreads Summary: “No one tried to get involved with me, and I kept to myself. This was the place where everything was supposed to be safe and easy. How could Evan Mathews unravel my constant universe in just one day?”

He knows there’s something more to the girl sitting in the back of the class the moment he sees her. She’s beautiful, intelligent, and athletic – but she slips quietly through the crowded halls, trying not to exist. Determined to get to know the elusive girl, Evan soon discovers…

Emma Thomas is hiding a terrible a secret. 

Reason to Breathe is an electrifying page turner from start to finish, a unique tale of life-changing love, unspeakable cruelty, and one girl’s fragile grasp of hope.

This book is heartbreaking and yet so hard to put down.  I just…there are no words.

I just had to know how it ended for Emma, and if she’d make her escape from the hell she was living in.  Her aunt has some serious issues, and I can’t even imagine doing what she did.  Cruel would be an understatement.

It’s such a beautiful, emotional book, and my emotions were all over the place. I smiled, I laughed, I was angry and sad and cried by the end.  It was hard to read at times, and it’s definitely dark, so if that’s not your thing, this might not be the best book for you.  But it is such an amazing book, and I don’t think I’ll forget it anytime soon.

Donovan did a great job at showing what Emma was going through and why her aunt treated her the way she did.  The characters were so real that you almost forget that it’s fiction and not reality.

The ending…wow.  I didn’t see it coming, but it was fitting.  I just knew I had to get the sequel.

It gets a 5 out of 5, and if I could give it a higher rating, I would.  Even now, my heart aches for Emma.  It’s unforgettable, scary real and an emotional rollercoaster.

Book: A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies

Book Info: Published by HarperCollins; 400 pages

Source: Purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA/Paranormal

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Goodreads Summary: On the night of Skye’s seventeenth birthday, she meets two enigmatic strangers. Complete opposites—like fire and ice—Asher is dark and wild, while Devin is fair and aloof. Their sudden appearance sends Skye’s life into a tailspin. She has no idea what they want, or why they seem to follow her every move—only that their presence coincides with a flurry of strange events. Soon she begins to doubt not just the identity of the two boys, but also the truth about her own past.

In the dead of a bitingly cold Colorado winter, Skye finds herself coming to terms with the impossible secret that threatens to shatter her world. Torn between Asher, who she can’t help falling for, and Devin, who she can’t stay away from, the consequences of Skye’s choice will reach further than the three of them could ever imagine.

A Beautiful Dark was just okay for me, yet I can’t wait to read the next book!  I was really bored reading about Sky trying to figure out her powers and picking a side.  It didn’t get interesting until the end, when things actually happened.

It was a really predictable story, and I can’t say I was surprised by anything that happened.  It was a little too detailed and I didn’t care for all the minute details of Skye’s life.  And even with all those details, I didn’t really feel like I got to know her very well.  For the most part, I just wanted Davies to get to the point.

I sort of liked the two different sides and how it wasn’t clear which side was the true bad guy in the grand scheme of things.  It is a slightly different take on the good angel versus fallen angel fighting for someone’s soul…but unfortunately, it wasn’t different enough.

It gets a 2 out of 5, but I still can’t wait to read the next book.  Especially after the way things ended.

Book: Unknown by Rachel Caine

Book Info: Published by Roc; 322 pages

Source: e-book via the library

Genre: Adult/Paranormal

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Goodreads Summary: Living among mortals, the djinn Cassiel has developed a reluctant affection for them—especially for Warden Luis Rocha. As the mystery deepens around the kidnapping of innocent Warden children, Cassiel and Luis are the only ones who can investigate both the human and djinn realms. But the trail will lead them to a traitor who may be more powerful than they can handle…

I just loved Unknown!  I really like how the story is going, and there is so much going on.

I find Pearl to be really interesting, especially how she’s using children to get to Cassiel.  Like, how did she not die the first time, and how did she stay hidden for so long?  And how will the children’s powers play out?

Unknown is just as exciting as Undone, and Caine is really good at keeping things moving.  The action just doesn’t stop, and it’s impossible to get bored reading it.  I think my only complaint is that it moves a little too fast- it would be nice to see Caine slow things down just a little.

Cassiel is an interesting character too, and I like seeing her adjustment to living in a human body.  I can’t wait to see how she deals with it in the rest of the series.

I also love the playlist at the end of the book.  It’s really cool to see what music got her through the book, and I’m hoping it continues throughout the rest of the series.  There are some great songs on it.

It gets a 5 out of 5.  It’s been a fun series to read, and I can’t wait to see if Cassiel can save humanity or if she has to destroy it.

Book: Breathless by Jessica Warman

Book Info: Published by Walker Books; 333 pages

Source: Purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA/Contemporary

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Goodreads Summary: When Katie Kitrell is shipped off to boarding school by her distant father and overbearing mother, it doesn’t take her long to become part of the It Crowd. She’s smart, she’s cute, and she’s an Olympic-bound swimmer who has a first class ticket to any Ivy League school of her choice. But what her new friends, roommate, and boyfriend don’t know is that Katie is swimming away from her past, and from her schizophrenic older brother, Will, who won’t let her go. And when he does the unthinkable, it’s all Katie can do to keep her head above water.

I don’t know what to think about Breathless.  I thought her relationship with her schizophrenic older brother was interesting, as was her relationship with her parents.  And I really liked the swimming aspect of the book, even if it wasn’t as important as the summary made it seem.  Speaking of the summary, it is a little misleading…I thought swimming and her brother would be the focus of the book, not Katie getting shipped off to boarding school.

It’s really more about her time at boarding school than anything else.  It’s like her brother’s schiophrenia and her swimming were randomly thrown in as a way to move things along.  There were times when the story dragged, but at the same time, huge chunks of time were completely glossed over and things seemed really random.

It gets a 2 out of 5.  There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but there wasn’t anything right about it either.

Book: The Diary Of Anne Frank

Book Info: Published by Random House Publishing Group; 352 pages

Source: E-book via the library

Genre: Non-fiction/Auto-biography

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Goodreads Summary: Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.

I finally read The Diary Of Anne Frank!  I liked it, but not as much as I thought I would.

I liked seeing her experiences of what it was like living in the Secret Annex, and the one thing I was struck by was how things don’t really change.  I mean, I could totally relate to how she felt and the relationships between her and her family.  Some things really are universal.

I’m glad I read it.  But I think I really built it up as this totally amazing book.  Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s an important, must-read.  But it didn’t really do anything for me either.

It’s great as diary, and seeing her own thoughts and life in hiding.  There were times when I was bored out of my mind reading it, but when you’re in hiding and have to be careful about how much noise you make and that sort of thing, it is to be expected.  I think it’s really more of a coming-of-age story than anything else.

It gets a 3 out of 5.