Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Review of "oh. my. gods." by Tera Lynn Childs



Yay! A review! Ahem. Okay, there are three things that I am obsessed with. Right right, more than three.. but when it comes to reading and research, three things.. mostly. I'm sure you've all picked up on the fact that I obsess over Vampires. You might have even caught my love of fallen angels.. but have you yet discovered that I love mythology? Any kind, really, but Greek mythology is the top of the list. So when a fellow book blogger mentioned this particular book, I practically ran to the library to borrow a copy. And yes, I know I'm not usually a YA fiction person, but I like to branch out of my comfort zones sometimes, and I just couldn't pass this book up.

From the book jacket: "If Phoebe Castro can keep her grades up and have another stellar cross-country season, her dream of attending USC with her best friends is only a track scholarship away. She's made all her plans, so it's a complete shock when her mom announces she's marrying a mysterious stranger and moving them halfway around the world - to Greece. Phoebe's stuck on a secret island in the Aegean, attending the super-exclusive Academy, where her new stepfather is the headmaster, and the kids are anything but your average students - they are descendants of the Greek gods, superpowers included. That's right, Greek gods are no myth! If Phoebe thought high school was hard, she knows this is going to be mortal misery. Securing that scholarship seems like Phoebe's only ticket out of Greece, but training and maintaining her grades will be gruelling, even without a sabotaging steosister from Hades and a gorgeous guy - what a god! - who just might be her Achilles' heel. One thing is for sure - summoning the will to win and finding her place among the gods could be Phoebe's toughest course yet. The Greek gods get a makeover in this romantic odyssey of mythic proportions."

Well, what to say, what to say.. I liked it. I thought it was a fun read, and heck.. I finished it in under two hours, while I enjoyed a little downtime between finishing errands and beginning work. As far as books go, I wouldn't say it was monumental, something that changed my life (oh yes, there are books like that!), but it was cute and enjoyable. I wish it hadn't been quite so predictable. I mean, from a third of the way in, you start getting inklings of the "big shocker" that occurs in the end. And I think the stepsister angle could have been done a little better - the character of the stepsister just seemed to change a little too quickly. But as I said, I enjoyed it, and I would recommend it to others. I'm always interested in how different authors will bring mythology into their work, whether figuratively - as inspiration, or literally - as in this case.

Supposedly, there is a sequel "Goddess boot camp," and I'm a little upset that my library does not have a copy.. I suppose I shall have to find it elsewhere!

I think I will end up giving this book a THREE POINT FIVE out of FIVE. I will probably recommend it to others, but probably only those that read YA fantasy/sci fi/this sort of thing.

Woo, it feels good to get another review up. I feel so accomplished! Now back to my readings for school, which.. if you're interested is - "Cane" by Jean Toomer, and "Neuromancer" by William Gibson. The first, ehhh... the second, I think is really interesting, I just wish I could understand it better. I love sci-fi, but he glances over things a little too quickly, so I don't catch them, then have to go back later and figure out what that meant.. well, anyways!

Happy reading, everyone! Only a few more days to Halloween - better get your spooky costumes and yummy candy out and ready!
~Morning Glow

Copy was borrowed from the library, I was not given it in exchange for a review. Photo courtesey of Amazon.com.

Work, (e)Books, and Bugs, oh my!

It's my bloooog I can rant if I want to, rant if I want to, rant if I want to..

Books! and eBooks! They're piling up around me, and I have yet to get two seconds to myself to read them. To earn some extra money (and because I needed to get out of the house more), I took on a very temporary job at a Halloween store. While I have plenty of hours available to work, I was planning on 20-25 hours. The first week? They scheduled me full time! Even after arguing with the managers, and then even the store owner, I finally managed to lessen the hours, but to 32. This week they did a little better, but I'm still at 28. So by the time I get home (the only two days I'm off are days I have classes full time) I have time to get some homework done before I crash. But I want to read! All these pretty books, they're calling to me! And not just print books, but I have recently recieved some ebooks from two authors that I told them I would gladly review them, and promote the books. I can't do that if I don't have SOME free time, dangit! Don't worry readers, I will be back! Just give me until the second (or so) of November (yay that's less than a week!) and I'll be able to at least do SOME reading and reviewing.

Want to know the books?
"Dhampir Passions" by Mary Corrales and
"The Ghost Downstairs" by Molly Ringle
The second author, I've been following her blog for AGES - she did some amazing "Lord of the Rings in 15 minutes" parodies, as well as other movies. And I was excited to receive a copy of this book to read and review. Heck, I was/am excited to receive BOTH of these!

Rant the second: BUGS! Ah! I know it's getting colder outside, and that usually means prime time for mice and bugs to get into the house since it's warmer inside.. but seriously world?! I live in a basement, and to date, I have found THREE crickets, a grasshopper (first time I've seen a grasshopper outside of the movie A Bug's Life), a spider the size of a quarter, etc. I have a love hate relationship with bugs.. they exist, and I love to hate them. Yes, I know they do good, I just wish they would do said good outside of my room. They make me all... cringey. Maybe if I print small signs and place them around my room telling bugs this is a bug free zone.. would it work?

I hope everyone has a fun (and safe!!) Halloween. Remember to beware, there are werewolves and vampires about! Just kidding, most vampires stay in and watch cheesy movies about themselves on Halloween. And werewolves would only be out if it's the full moon... better check the moon cycle!

Happy Reading, everyone!
~Morning Glow