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Book Review: One Tiny Lie

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One Tiny Lie CoverBook: One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker

Published June 2013 by Atria Books|Pages: 256

Where I Got It: Nook Store

Series: Ten Tiny Breaths #2

Genre: New Adult Romance/Contemporary

You Can Find One Tiny Lie on Goodreads|You can find K.A. Tucker on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: Livie has always been the stable one of the two Cleary sisters, handling her parents’ tragic death and Kacey’s self-destructive phase with strength and maturity. But underneath that exterior is a little girl hanging onto the last words her father ever spoke to her. “Make me proud,” he had said. She promised she would…and she’s done her best over the past seven years with every choice, with every word, with every action.

Livie walks into Princeton with a solid plan, and she’s dead set on delivering on it: Rock her classes, set herself up for medical school, and meet a good, respectable guy that she’s going to someday marry. What isn’t part of her plan are Jell-O shots, a lovable, party animal roommate she can’t say ‘no’ to, and Ashton, the gorgeous captain of the men’s rowing team. Definitely him. He’s an arrogant ass who makes Livie’s usually non-existent temper flare and everything she doesn’t want in a guy. Worse, he’s best friends and roommates with Connor, who happens to fits Livie’s criteria perfectly. So why does she keep thinking about Ashton?

As Livie finds herself facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, she’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father and, with it, the only identity that she knows.

This series is really growing on me!  The story that started in Ten Tiny Breaths continues with One Tiny Lie, but this novel focuses on Livie’s life at Princeton while also continuing some of the story lines from Ten Tiny Breaths.

I really loved Livie’s story, and seeing Livie on her own, away from the home she had in Miami.  She and Kacey have so many differences, and I really liked that One Tiny Lie focused on Livie and how car accident and the events of TTB affected her.  You got an inkling of it before, but there was something very different about an entire book focused on Livie’s story.

Livie is one who strives for perfection, and doesn’t want to let anyone down, and I can totally relate to that.  But along the way, Livie realizes that it’s okay to do what’s right for her, and that she wouldn’t be letting anyone down by not becoming a doctor or finishing her education at Princeton.

Livie does crack, and now that Kacey is okay, she’s getting some help from good, old Dr. Stayner.  Who actually sounds like he would be an awesome- but completely unconventional- psychiatrist.  And it’s nice that Livie has Dr. Stayner to challenge her perfection. Livie has her own demons, and that car accident that killed her parents affected her in a very different way.

And she and Ashton are so good together!  They have their issues, and Ashton has something being held over his head and his own issues to work through, but I think it’s why he and Livie are so cute together.  There are quite a few obstacles in their way, of course, but I liked their journey together.

My emotions were all over the place with One Tiny Lie, but in a totally good way.  I laughed and cried and smiled.  It’s not as emotional as Ten Tiny Breaths, but it’s still pretty emotional.

Final Thoughts:

I’m such a fan of K.A. Tucker now!  One Tiny Lie has cemented my love of her books, and I am so very looking forward to continuing this series!  I just love Livie’s story and she is such an easy character to relate to.  One Tiny Lie gets 5 stars.

Gilmore Girls 3×9: A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving

Posted in Season Three, The Gilmore Girls Project by

A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving originally aired November 26, 2002.  This episode was written by Daniel Palladino and was directed by Kenny Ortega.

Gilmore Girls Season 3 Graphic

This episode opens with Lorelei and Rory watching Grey Gardens, and how they were reminded of themselves.

From there…Thanksgiving!  Sookie is freaking out that Bob will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner at the Inn.  Emily arrives at the Inn to make sure that Lorelei and Rory will be at Thanksgiving.  Emily reminds Lorelei that it was Richard who set up at the meeting at Yale, not her.

At Chilton, Paris is upset that she’s not able to volunteer at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving, and that the volunteers who aren’t trying to get into Harvard are selfish because they don’t get anything out of it, while she does.

While getting flowers for all the Thanksgiving dinners they’re going to, Jess sees Rory, but when he kisses her, she insists on not doing it in front of Taylor’s because Dean might see.  Jess tells her that Dean is going to have to get over it.  And when Lorelei sees Dean in the market, she tells him that they can still be friends, even if he and Rory aren’t together anymore.

Rory and Lorelei have big plans for Thanksgiving- they’re going to Lane’s, Sookie’s and Luke’s before making their way to Emily’s. Lorelei tries not to eat tofurkey at Lane’s, listens to Sookie talk about how deep-fried turkey is wrong, and at Luke’s, they just have a chance to relax before heading over to the insanity that is Thanksgiving with Emily and Richard.

Naturally, college applications come up, as some of the other guests have grandchildren who are also applying to college.  Lorelei seems shocked that Rory applied to several other colleges.  Lorelei, of course, wants to know what other colleges, and Rory doesn’t want to tell Lorelei that she applied to Yale.  Richard, according to Lorelei, forced Rory’s hand, even if she doesn’t know.  Because Rory’s nice, and not applying would hurt Richard’s feelings.  And even when Rory says that she would be able to stay at home if she went to Yale, Lorelei accuses Emily of putting the idea in Rory’s head.  Even Rory saying that she figured it out on her own doesn’t change Lorelei’s mind about the fact that Richard and Emily got Rory to apply to Yale.

Lorelei ends up going outside, and Emily goes to talk to her.  Lorelei is not receptive to Yale being a back-up plan or an alternative to Harvard, because it’s been about Harvard for 17 years.  Emily makes a statement that Lorelei hates them so much that she can’t let Rory have one piece of Richard and Emily’s life, even if it’s Rory’s choice.

They go home, and since they didn’t eat at Emily’s, they realized they didn’t have to skip on eating rolls that day.  Lorelei knows that wherever Rory goes to school, Rory will have a great time and become a better person but still gets a weird feeling anytime her parents are involved.  They stop by to see Sookie, who is really drunk…but also really funny.  And we see Lane, who is still confused as to why Dave wants to go on a date with her.

Rory finally decides that it’s okay to kiss Jess in public, and when Jess goes to throw some trash away, he sees Dean, who apparently saw Jess and Rory kiss.  Dean is giving Jess a really hard time, and it really seems like he’s trying to provoke Jess.  Jess, by the way, isn’t going to fight Dean because of Rory, but Dean is done trying to be nice to Jess.

The episode ends with Lorelei and Rory going home.

Thoughts:

Before I get to the really interesting stuff…Paris.  Paris is sometimes hysterical of how she acts!  In this case, the fact that people might want to do something nice for others on Thanksgiving, and help out somewhere didn’t seem to occur to her.  It’s almost like her attitude is that they’re taking away a spot from her, who needs it because her reason for helping is better than their reason.

So, Thanksgiving dinner with the Gilmore family.  The Yale stuff is still a really big issue, and it’s not surprising that Lorelei is ignoring Emily because of what Richard did.

The whole thing about Lorelei not understanding the college application process…I felt like that carried over into this episode, because Lorelei seems truly shocked that Rory would apply to other schools.  A school like Chilton would probably frown upon applying to only one college, but even then, it’s ridiculous to assume that Rory’s going to apply to just one school.  I get Rory doesn’t want to mention applying to Yale, but Rory’s smart enough that she can figure out on her own that she could live at home if she went there.

This is really the first time where I’ve felt like Rory is more open to going to a college that is not Harvard.  And for the first time, I wonder if it’s something Lorelei has latched onto, and Rory doesn’t want to say anything for fear of hurting Lorelei’s feelings.  While we’re told that it’s what Rory wants, bits and pieces of other episodes have come back.  Like when Rory went to that guys house to talk about applying to Harvard, and how Lorelei’s happy with whatever Rory wants?  I think I remember Richard telling Lorelei that Rory only wants to go to Harvard because she thinks Lorelei wants her to go there at one point.  I’m sure Lorelei will be happy with wherever Rory goes, but I think they’ve focused on Harvard so much that Lorelei doesn’t know what to do with the idea that Rory would consider other schools.

I’m feeling like the whole Harvard thing is more Lorelei than Rory, because Lorelei really does seem so resistent to Rory even applying to other schools…even non-Yale ones.  It just really seems like Lorelei doesn’t have a good grasp of applying to college. Of course, this could have been avoided with actual communication, but then…you really wouldn’t have any conflict…

And I want to end on Dean and Jess really quick.  I know Dean is up to something, and for the life of me, I cannot figure out what it is.  But I think it’ll come up soon.  It’s like Dean is trying to provoke a fight so Rory will dump Jess for fighting Dean or something.

Favorite People:

No favorite line, but Mrs. Kim is always funny, and drunk Sookie was absolutely hysterical.

Pop Culture:

West Side Story, Deep-Fried Turkey

Episode Rating:

I really liked this episode, and I liked four Thanksgiving dinners!  And by the way, I’ve had tofurkey, and I don’t think it’s that bad…but I can barely manage one Thanksgiving dinner, much less 4.  This episode had a really good balance of funny and serious. This episode gets 4 mugs of coffee.

Audio Book Review: Blameless

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Blameless CoverBook: Blameless by Gail Carriger, Narrated by Emily Gray

Published March 2011 by Recorded Books|Run Time: 11 hours, 59 minutes

Where I Got It: audible.com

Series: Parasol Protectorate #3

Genre: Adult Paranormal/Steampunk/Fantasy

You can find Blameless on Goodreads|You can find Gail Carriger on Twitter, Facebook and her website 

Goodreads Summary: Quitting her husband’s house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season.

Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London’s vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead.

While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires — and they’re armed with pesto.

BLAMELESS is the third book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

I am so enjoying this series!  I really liked Blameless, and things got interesting in this book!

Alexia being pregnant with Lord Maccon’s child is quite scandalous, as werewolves do not have the ability to have children…which means it would appear that the child is not Lord Maccon’s.  But Alexia and a select few know that she did nothing scandalous at all. But as most everyone believes differently, Alexia travels to Italy to find out the answers she is looking for.  Namely, how one can have a child with a werewolf.

Conall and Alexia are separated for almost the entire book, but I do like that we see Alexia’s adventures and Conall dealing with banishing Alexia from his home.  He did, in the end, realize he was acting like a complete idiot, and he and Alexia did make up by the end of the book.  She did, I suppose, forgive him a bit too easily, and the entire situation in France and Italy could have been (mostly) avoided had she insisted she didn’t do anything wrong and had he not acted like an idiot.  Still, given the times, I kind of understand why he had her leave.

So…Alexia’s unborn inconvenience.  I like that she and her friends were trying to figure out what happened, and what her child could be.  We do get an answer with the help of a German scientist, who kept referring to Alexia as his female specimen.  The way he said it was hilarious, but it did get a little trying by the end of the book.  Still, since her child is the result of someone who is soulless, and someone who is a werewolf, it’ll be interesting to see if Alexia is repelled by her child (if indeed her child is a preternatural) or if her child will take on other supernatural qualities that no one can foresee. Since it’s pretty rare and all.

There were quite a few times when I could not stop laughing!  Alexia is hysterical, and she is such an interesting character!  Not only is she funny but she is not one to mess with, because she’s smart and witty and pretty quick on her feet.  And I liked how she had the support of her friends while traveling through France and Italy, and that Conall saw the errors of his ways and came through for Alexia in the end.

Emily Gray is such a great narrator!  She does so well with the different accents, and she really does bring Alexia to life!  I can’t imagine anyone else narrating the series.

Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed Blameless, and it was such a fun book to listen to!  It’s hard not to laugh at Alexia sometimes, but she’s a great character, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for her and Conall now that she’s pregnant.  I didn’t completely love Blameless, and I did miss Alexia and Conall together, but Blameless is still a great book!  Blameless gets 4 stars.

Book Review: Destiny

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Destiny CoverBook: Destiny by P.T. Michelle

Published October 2013 by Limitless Ink Press|327 pages

Where I Got It: Nook Store

Series: Brightest Kind of Darkness #3

Genre: YA Paranormal

You can find Destiny on Goodreads|You can find P.T. Michelle on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: When destiny is on the line, will love be enough to light the way?

In order to save Ethan, Nara gets pulled deeper into his dark world, where everything she thought she knew about Ethan and herself turns on its head. Ethan and Nara turn up the heat with bone-melting seduction and heart-rending moments, but surprising revelations, lies, treachery, betrayal, and unimaginable evil will challenge their relationship and their future together. As the stakes rise, encompassing more than just her relationship with Ethan, will Nara make the ultimate sacrifice?

I’m really liking this series!  Destiny was a really interesting read, and every book in this series reveals more about this world.  But as my questions get answered, I find that I have more questions about this world and what’s going on and what it all means!

So, we learn more about Corvus and the Order and that there’s a Master Corvus who only appears when needed.  And we learn why Nara was in so much danger in Lucid!  We finally learn what Ethan knows, but it definitely takes a while, as there are some…issues…that need to be taken care of first.

I definitely like Nara and Ethan working together, and they really are better and stronger as a team than they are when they’re on their own.  Actually, it’s nice to see people in it together, because I feel like that doesn’t happen too often.  But I’m glad things work out for Nara and Ethan.  At least, I’m glad that things work out in this book, because I have the feeling that things are going to get very interesting in the next book.

We also meet Nara’s dad, and I’m hoping we see more of him.  I feel like he’s going to have more of a role, but what that is, I’m not sure.  Well, I’m hoping he has more of a role, but that could be wishful thinking on my part.

And the ending!  I can’t believe I have to wait for the next book, because I really want to know what happens next.  There was definitely some yelling involved, because there is a bit of a cliffhanger.  An idea that seemed so simple in Brightest Kind Of Darkness is so much more involved than I ever imagined.  But in a totally good way, because there’s so much more to this world than I could have imagined was possible.  And I can’t wait to see what else is revealed about the world Nara and Ethan are living in, because I feel like there’s so much that will surprise me in the next one.

Final Thoughts:

I really like this series, and I’m always surprised with how interesting this world is!  I’m definitely looking forward to the next book to see what we learn, because questions get answered, and a ton more take its place.  Destiny gets 4 stars.

Audio Book Review: Changeless

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Changeless CoverBook: Changeless by Gail Carriger, Narrated by Emily Gray

Published March 2011 by Recorded Books|Run Time: 10 hours, 33 minutes

Where I Got It: Audible.com

Series: Parasol Protectorate #2

Genre: Adult Fantasy/Paranormal/Steampunk

You can find Changeless on Goodreads|You can find Gail Carriger on Twitter, Facebook and her website 

Goodreads Summary: Alexia Maccon, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears; leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.

But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. So even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can. She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.

CHANGLESS is the second book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

I loved Changeless!  It was such a fun book to listen to, and I loved the adventures and trouble Alexia got herself into.

Alexia is absolutely hilarious, and I couldn’t help but laugh almost the entire book.  I can’t help but love Alexia.  Especially when she’s with Maccon.  I just love the two of them together!  Actually, I love Alexia with pretty much anyone.  Like her friendship with Ivy, or how she was with her sister or many of the other characters we meet throughout the book.  Because we meet quite a few new characters, and see quite a few old characters.  I did like the new characters, who made Alexia’s troubles really interesting.

So, in Changeless, we learn that there’s something that can neutralize vampires and werewolves.  Naturally, Alexia is unaffected, but also blamed.  At least, she is at first, because she’s soulless and can do that.  But not to the scale that happened in Changeless.  Everything gets sorted out, of course, and there are a few other interesting things that come up throughout the book.

Especially the part that happens in the last 10 minutes or so.  I’ll admit, I did figure it out right before it came up, and it will make Blameless a really interesting book to listen to.  I mean, Alexia’s not lying, and we know she’s not lying, but other people don’t believe her.  Like Lord Maccon, for one.  It makes me wonder if it’s somehow connected to the supernatural neutralization, or if there’s something else going on.  Because it involves Alexia and Lord Maccon, and so it’s not going to be normal.  Because nothing in their lives are normal.

Emily Gray is such a great narrator!  She really captures the essence of Alexia and who she is, and Alexia really comes to life because of her.  Whoever decided to go with her as the narrator did a great job in picking her.

Final Thoughts:

Changeless is such a great sequel to Soulles, and I loved it much more than Soulless.  I still like Soulless, but Changeless was really fun to listen to.  I can’t wait to see how the ending of this book gets sorted out in the next book.  Changeless gets 5 stars.

ARC Book Review: Elizabeth Of York

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Elizabeth Of York CoverBook: Elizabeth Of York by Alison Weir

Expected Publication Is December 3, 2013 by Ballantine Books|Expected Number Of Pages: 536

Where I Got It: netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: None

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction- History- Tudor England

You can find Elizabeth Of York on goodreads|You can find Alison Weir at her website

Goodreads Summary: Many are familiar with the story of the much-married King Henry VIII of England and the celebrated reign of his daughter, Elizabeth I. But it is often forgotten that the life of the first Tudor queen, Elizabeth of York, Henry’s mother and Elizabeth’s grandmother, spanned one of England’s most dramatic and perilous periods. Now New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed historian Alison Weir presents the first modern biography of this extraordinary woman, whose very existence united the realm and ensured the survival of the Plantagenet bloodline.

Her birth was greeted with as much pomp and ceremony as that of a male heir. The first child of King Edward IV, Elizabeth enjoyed all the glittering trappings of royalty. But after the death of her father; the disappearance and probable murder of her brothers—the Princes in the Tower; and the usurpation of the throne by her calculating uncle Richard III, Elizabeth found her world turned upside-down: She and her siblings were declared bastards.

As Richard’s wife, Anne Neville, was dying, there were murmurs that the king sought to marry his niece Elizabeth, knowing that most people believed her to be England’s rightful queen. Weir addresses Elizabeth’s possible role in this and her covert support for Henry Tudor, the exiled pretender who defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth and was crowned Henry VII, first sovereign of the House of Tudor. Elizabeth’s subsequent marriage to Henry united the houses of York and Lancaster and signaled the end of the Wars of the Roses. For centuries historians have asserted that, as queen, she was kept under Henry’s firm grasp, but Weir shows that Elizabeth proved to be a model consort—pious and generous—who enjoyed the confidence of her husband, exerted a tangible and beneficial influence, and was revered by her son, the future King Henry VIII. 

Drawing from a rich trove of historical records, Weir gives a long overdue and much-deserved look at this unforgettable princess whose line descends to today’s British monarch—a woman who overcame tragedy and danger to become one of England’s most beloved consorts.

I’m super-fascinated by the Tudors, and I’m also a huge fan of Alison Weir, so I knew I had to read Elizabeth Of York.  I don’t know much about her, or the Wars Of The Roses, since I tend to read about Henry VIII and his wives and children.  It was great reading about Elizabeth, since I didn’t know a lot about her.

The first few chapters…they were a little hard to go through, mostly because I found it hard to keep up with all of the people and events Weir writes about.  It’s fairly easy to understand, but it’s a lot to take in, and I think I need to read the book a few more times with pen and paper to have a better grasp of everything.  It’s very readable, but my head swam with names and such.

One thing I thought was interesting was how Henry VII kind of needed her to make his role as king legitimate.  It’s not surprising, given there was a war over who should be king, but it’s still interesting that marrying someone like Elizabeth neutralized some claims to the throne.  Not completely, of course, and some of them must have taken their toll on her.

Another interesting thing was the possibility that Henry VIII named his daughter Elizabeth after his mother.  I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before, but it does make sense.  I also thought that Henry would want to have a relationship like the one his parents had to be interesting.  It seems like Elizabeth and Henry VII had a really good relationship and marriage, so Henry had a relationship to look up to.  I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does.  Of course, trying to find someone like his mother wasn’t conclusive or anything, since having heirs was really important.

While I found the first chapters confusing, they were also really interesting.  I liked reading about her childhood, and you could easily focus in on that part of her life.  Having to live somewhere really secure because of living in uncertainty, and losing her 2 brothers and not knowing if they were dead or alive, and holding out hope…I do have a lot of sympathy for her.

A lot of the book, especially those early years, focus on what was going on around Elizabeth, since there isn’t a lot we know of that time in her life.  So I don’t mind that part of the book is more about the people around her, because it shows how she became the person she did, and why things went the way they did.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, Elizabeth Of York was very readable, and I liked learning more about her.  It was hard to keep track of what was going on at the beginning, but in the end, I learned a lot!  Elizabeth Of York gets 4 stars.

Gilmore Girls Episode 3×8: Let The Games Begin

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Let The Games Begin originally aired November 19, 2002.  The teleplay is by Amy Sherman-Palladino, and the episode was written by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Sheila Lawrence.  This episode was directed by Steven Robman.

Gilmore Girls Season 3 Graphic

We open this episode with Lorelei and Rory slowly walking to Luke’s after the 24-hour dance marathon.  It took them so long to get there that it’s time for Rory to go to school.  Jess and Rory see each other, and are all awkward.  Lorelei, of course, has to explain to Luke that Rory and Dean are not together, and that Jess and Rory are now together.  Luke thinks it’s a good idea, and hope Rory will be a good influence on Jess.  Lorelei thinks it’s time Rory had a Jess.

At Friday night dinner, Emily isn’t happy with the salad, because walnuts keep appearing in it, no matter how many times she has the maid re-do it.  Rory and Richard go into the kitchen for some soda (Rory) and ice (Richard).  He tells her he’s going to visit Yale one weekend, and he asks Rory if she wants to come.  Rory, being Rory, agrees to go.  When she tells Lorelei, however, Lorelei wants to go back inside, because she thinks Richard is up to something.

Rory stops by Luke’s after school one day, but things are still weird between her and Jess.  And, of course, the trip to Yale, in which Emily and Richard talk about their time there.

And then…they arrive at the main administration building, where we learn that Richard has set up an interview with the Dean Of Admissions.  Lorelei isn’t happy, and even Emily is surprised.  And this is when Richard starts talking about how Lorelei doesn’t understand the college admission process, because she never went to college.  It’s his job to make sure that Rory knows her options, because Rory’s education isn’t something that is going to be left to chance.  Lorelei goes outside to call a cab, and Emily follows her to tell her that applying to Yale could make Rory look even better to Harvard.

Rory finishes her interview, and isn’t happy that she didn’t have time to prepare.  She would have worn something different and would have had her transcripts and letters of recommendation ready if she had known.  And she tells Richard that she would have gone through with the interview if he had just asked her, because she wanted to do it right.

She and Lorelei go back to Stars Hollow, where they eat tacos at the diner.  Jess and Rory make up excuses to leave, and Luke tells Lorelei about the ground rules he has for Rory and Jess.  Lorelei, however, tells him that they’re totally together at the moment, and Luke decides he has to go looking for them.

After Rory meets up with Jess, she goes to talk to Dean.  She apologizes for treating him horribly and for doing the things he said she did.  She’s surprised that he hasn’t told his mom yet, and answering the door with his mom being really nice to her would have been weird for Rory knowing that his mom is going to hate him soon.  And his sister is going to hate her when she finds out they’re not together. Dean makes a snarky comment about how horrible it is that someone doesn’t like her, but they both hope that one day, Dean doesn’t hate her anymore.

The episode ends with Rory and Lorelei looking at Yale brochures.

Thoughts:

Even before I knew who wrote the episode, I knew Amy Sherman-Palladino wrote it, because there are some issues between Lorelei and Richard.

I normally love Richard, but he made me so mad in this episode!  I agree that Rory needs to look at all of her options, and not just focus on Harvard, but then again, we don’t see her think about other schools.  We just see her focus on Harvard, so it’s pretty one-sided.

I don’t think Richard went about it the best way, and I really think Rory would have down the interview if Richard asked her.  Plus, it’s an interview for an Ivy League school, and that’s not something you just spring on someone, especially someone like Rory, who needs to go in really prepared.

I thought Richard went a bit overboard when he was talking about how he’s in a better position to help Rory because he went through the college application process.  It totally makes it sound like he’s better than Lorelei because he knows what Rory is going through.  And that you can’t understand the process if you don’t go through it.  I kind of agree that Rory has a good chance of getting into Yale since Richard went there, but wouldn’t Chilton be offering support and guidance?  Unfortunately, his good intentions didn’t go over well, and I think he could have gone about it a little differently.  Also, I know Lorelei is insistent that Rory is going to Harvard, but I think she also needs to be a little more open to the idea that Rory could apply to other schools.

Oh!  Rory applying to Yale, which makes her look better to Harvard.  That seems a little off to me. Like, why and how would Harvard know if someone’s applied to Yale and Princeton?

And Rory talking to Dean…when he made the snarky comment about people not liking Rory…I was all, Go Dean!  Because Rory is so worried about people hating her, and it was actually kind of nice to see him point it out that not everyone is going to like her.

Favorite Line/Scene:

None for this episode

Pop Culture:

The Donner Party, the Wiffenpoofs, Perry Como, Nancy Reagan’s war on drugs, Oprah’s book club, Romeo And Juliet

Episode Rating:

I really liked this episode, and I feel like this one opens up the possibility of Rory thinking about colleges other than Harvard.  No ASP episode is complete without tension between Lorelei and her parents. This episode gets 4 mugs of coffee.

Book Review: Charade

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Charade CoverBook: Charade by Cambria Hebert

Self-Published by Cambria Hebert|332 pages

Where I Got It: Nook Store

Series: Heven & Hell #2

Genre: YA Paranormal

You can find Charade on Goodreads|You can find Cambria Hebert on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: Dying at the hands of a psycho was a shock. Having my life returned to me by an angel was incredible.

Being named a Supernatural Treasure and being given Sam as my guard was pretty darn awesome. Acquiring a debt for it all—well, I should have seen it coming.

Now here we are, fighting demons from Hell, caring for a boy that I just don’t trust, and traveling to faraway places to return a treasure to its rightful place. Nothing is as it seems. Everyone wears a mask; everyone puts on a charade. It’s up to us to separate the truth from the lies and reality from fiction. A hard task when my new reality involves fallen angels, witches and dragons… and did I mention Hell?

Anchoring me down through it all is Sam. Sam, who must face tragedies of his own and is put to the test again and again.

If we fail in our task, life as we know it—life as you know it—will end. Forever.

There was so much I didn’t expect from Charade, but I really liked it!  Things are not what they seem, and it made Charade a really fun read!

Just when I thought I knew what was going on, Hebert would do something that would completely take me off guard and remind me that I really have no clue what is going on.  There were definitely a few parts I should have seen coming, and while there times when something was off, I could never quite figure out why…because my theories tended to be smashed to bits.  There was so much mystery, and I loved that I didn’t quite know what was going on.

Trouble abounds for Sam and Heven, and that trouble comes in several different ways, none of which I want to reveal, because that will definitely be giving something away!  They do go to Rome to put the map in its rightful place, and of course, things go terribly, terribly wrong.  So I’m hoping things will go back to normal in the next book.  Because I don’t think I’ll be happy if they don’t.

I really liked seeing Sam and Heven narrate the book, and they often took turns narrating in the same chapter.  It worked really well, and they both had their own voice and their own stories, and it was nice to see what things were like for the two of them. I do wish they got to spend a little more time in Rome, because that part of the book went really fast!

I really like Heven, and already, Heven’s changed quite a bit!  I really liked her in this book, and I just love her grandma.  I’m still not a fan of her mom or Kimber, which is still kind of warranted in this book.  I’m actually neutral about Sam, but I did like how he was protective of Heven and how he wanted to take care of his brother Logan.  Logan, by the way, was really annoying throughout the book…but I totally understand why he was acting like a brat for pretty much the entire book.

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Charade, and how nothing is what it seems!  Just when I thought I had everything figured out, I was proven so wrong, and I liked that I was kept guessing.  I can’t wait to see what happens next.  Charade gets 4 stars.

Audio Book Review: Beautiful Redemption

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Beautiful Redemption CoverBook: Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Narrated by Kevin T. Collins and Khristine Hvam

Published October 2012 by Hachette Audio|Run Time: 11 hours, 21 minutes

Where I Got It: Audible.com

Series: Beautiful Creatures #4

Genre: YA Paranormal

You can find Beautiful Redemption on Goodreads|Kami Garcia’s Website|Margaret Stohl’s Website|Series Website

Goodreads Summary: Is death the end…. or only the beginning?

Ethan Wate has spent most of his life longing to escape the stiflingly small Southern town of Gatlin. He never thought he would meet the girl of his dreams, Lena Duchannes, who unveiled a secretive, powerful, and cursed side of Gatlin, hidden in plain sight. And he never could have expected that he would be forced to leave behind everyone and everything he cares about. So when Ethan awakes after the chilling events of the Eighteenth Moon, he has only one goal: to find a way to return to Lena and the ones he loves.

Back in Gatlin, Lena is making her own bargains for Ethan’s return, vowing to do whatever it takes – even if that means trusting old enemies or risking the lives of the family and friends Ethan left to protect.

Worlds apart, Ethan and Lena must once again work together to rewrite their fate, in this fourth book and stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series.

I can’t believe I’m officially finished with Beautiful Redemption.  I’ve really enjoyed this series, and Beautiful Redemption is such a good ending to the series.

This book is different from the other books in the series, mostly because Lena narrates a good chunk of the book.  That was a surprise, and it was actually nice to hear what was going on in Lena’s world while Ethan was in the Otherworld.  And how they managed to work together while in two very different worlds.

What was really interesting about Lena and Ethan narrating is that they narrate in sections.  While Ethan is narrating several different sections, Lena gets a section at the very beginning and in the middle of the book.  And it worked really well, because her narration sets up the book and later shows how she’s trying to figure out how to get the Book Of Moons to Ethan.  Still, I didn’t like her part of the book as much as I liked Ethan’s.  I think it’s because I’m so used to Ethan narrating that anyone else narrating would have been weird, no matter how well it worked.  

I liked Ethan’s travels all over the Otherworld, and how parts of it mirrored our own world.  I loved seeing Aunt Pru and we finally get to meet Ethan’s mom!  We’ve had glimpses of her, but we actually got to see more than a few glimpses, and that was nice.  Pretty much because we’ve heard so much about her that it was nice to have more than a glimpse or two of her.

I also liked how Ethan just wanted to get back to Lena.  Ethan definitely had some anger issues at the beginning, and I liked that he finally realized the consequences of his sacrifice.  And how he appreciated the people in his life after realizing how important they are.  He came across some really interesting people, and I really wish Xavier were in the other books, because he really is an interesting character.  It’s too bad he was only in this one because I want to know more about him!

I don’t think I could have predicted anything in Beautiful Redemption…except for the HEA, of course.  I thought things were wrapped up really well, and parts of Beautiful Redemption made me a little teary-eyed.  

As much as I love Lena and Ethan together, I have totally neutral feelings about her.  Link was funny, as always, but it’s strange to think of a Beautiful Creatures book where Ethan is separated from his friends and family for most of the book.  Amma was great, as were the sisters.

And Kevin Collins did a great job narrating!  I’ve really come to enjoy him narrating the series, and Khristine Hvam is what I picture Lena to sound like.  

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Beautiful Redemption, and I thought it was a great ending to the series.  We meet some really interesting new characters, and we see quite a few old characters too.  Overall, I’ve come to love the Caster world and how intricate it is, and I’m really sad to see this series come to an end.  Beautiful Redemption gets 4 stars.  

Book Review: Lucid

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Lucid CoverBook: Lucid by P.T. Michelle

Self-Published in July 2012|328 pages

Where I Got It: Nook Store

Series: Brightest Kind Of Darkness #2

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

You can find Lucid on Goodreads|You can find P.T. Michelle on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: Once Nara combines her prophetic ability with Ethan’s power to outsmart Fate at his own deadly cat-and-mouse game, she’s more determined than ever to help Ethan learn the meaning behind the raven sword tattoo that suddenly appeared on his back after their confrontation with Fate.

During her quest to uncover the tattoo’s secrets, Nara enlists the help of some new friends and discovers her own surprising connection to Ethan.

While Nara digs deeper into the mystery, her desire for answers leads her down a dangerous path full of powerful and ruthless enemies. Swept into an age-old battle, Nara quickly learns that keeping one’s enemies close can be a necessary evil, making an intangible enemy she can control far more preferable to the human enemies she can’t.

I recently finished Lucid, the sequel to The Brightest Kind Of Darkness, and I can honestly say that I really liked it!  This series is definitely unique, and I love seeing Nara’s abilities.  Especially when paired with Ethan’s, who, sadly, is not as present in Lucid as he was in BKoD.

Still, I was glad when Ethan did make an appearance towards the end of the book, and I really want to know what he’s been up to. Because it’s clear that something is going on with Ethan, especially because of how he didn’t want Nara’s help with researching ravens and Ethan’s mysterious tattoo.  And how he evaded her questions about what was going on.

I also liked that Nara was trying to help Ethan out, and that led to a mysterious group of people trying to figure out what she knows about ravens.  Because there is some connection between Ethan, Nara and ravens, and I am really curious as to what it is.

We also don’t see a lot of Nara’s aunt Sage, who is such a great character.  Of course, her absence is because she’s trying to hunt down Nara’s dad.  We do learn why he left Nara and her mom so long ago.  And I love Nara’s aunt Corda, who is actually pretty important, because Nara gets a journal that her grandmother kept, so there are some things Nara learns about her family.  I’m hoping we see more of that, because I really liked it.

I loved seeing Nara deal with Fate, who is still around, but in a different way.  Still, we didn’t see as much of Fate, but I have the feeling he might have more of an appearance in the next couple of books.

As much as I liked Lucid, I didn’t like it nearly as much as BKoD.  I’m not sure if it’s because we don’t see a lot of Ethan and Nara struggling to deal with not having her dreams, but I didn’t quite enjoy it as much as I thought it would.

There’s also something randomly nit-picky: I do think it’s a little weird that Nara’s name is Inara, but she goes by Nara.  But if the biggest complaint I have is Inara going by Nara, I think we’re doing pretty good.

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Lucid, but not as much as Brightest Kind Of Darkness.  Still, I thought it was a really good follow-up to BKoD and I can’t wait to see what happens next.  Lucid gets 4 stars.