Book Review of Chameleon by Cidney Swanson

Book Title: Chameleon

Author: Cidney Swanson

Publish Date: September 6, 2011

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Series Name: Ripple

Plot (from Goodreads): Sixteen-year-old Samantha Ruiz has a lot on her mind. The crush who kissed her but changed his mind. The BFF who thinks Sam is in an abusive relationship. The geneticist who wanted Sam dead but now wants her ALIVE. And of course, Sam’s still dealing with a tendency to disappear into thin air.

When Sam learns of her nemesis Helmann’s Nazi-like plan to establish a Thousand-Year Reign, she’s determined to fight him. Along with Will and Mickie, Sam flees to France to meet Sir Walter—their best hope for stopping Helmann’s brave new world.

But Sam isn’t any safer in France. Someone is following her. Someone invisible. Sam will have to figure out how to hide from an enemy she can’t even see.

Why I Read this Book: I received a free electronic copy of the book for review purposes from the author.  This in no way influenced my review of the book.

 

Review 

I really love this series.  It has a rich plot and dynamic characters.  Although the plot has some scifi/fantasy elements, it is realistic.  The romance aspect is a little cheesy and predictable, but it is still suspenseful and lovely. Every page is filled with action and suspense.  This book has a few new characters that are introduced and I really enjoyed them.   I cannot tell you too much about this book without giving away parts of the series because it is a sequel.  Just know that this series should be on your TBR list if you have not read it yet.

 

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age: Any Age

Overall Rating: 4/5

Thursday Tags: The Book Cake Tag

This week's tag is entitled "The Book Cake Tag".  This is a tag where you relate books to ingredients in a cake.  I found this tag over at Ariel Bissett's Booktube Channel. You should go check out all the amazing things that Ariel is doing on her channel, but you should also check out the video of the creator of the tag, suddenlylorna.

1. Self-rising Flour: a book that started out slow, but ended up exciting

I did not enjoy this book at first, but I received a copy of it through GoodReads FirstReads and so I continued reading the book until the end.  I really enjoyed the last half of the book.  Michelle Barker just took her time at the beginning of the book to do some world building and I respect that.

2. Butter: (the richness in the cake): a book that has a rich plot

This book has the best plot of any book that I have read in a long time.  Addison has the ability to see into the future and see the what would happen if she makes one choice compared to another choice.  Addison's parents are getting a divorce and she has to choose which parent she wants to live with.  The book chapters alternate between what would happen if she chose to live with her mom versus what would happen if she chose to live with her dad.  Although the alternating chapters were confusing at first, I got accustomed to this quickly and I really enjoyed this book!

3. Eggs: a book that you thought would be bad but turned out to be really good

The premise of this book is really dark.  The kingdom that Alexa lives in chooses to rape young girls in order to increase the numbers of their army.  Although this premise is really disturbing, that is not the main plot of the book.  Alexa is forced to dress as a man and serve in the king's army in order to avoid being raped.  Alexa defends her kingdom even though she does not like some of the things that her kingdom does to their citizens.  Alexa gets abducted by a neighboring kingdom and this is when the book really starts to pick up.  The world and the character building in this book are amazing and I am glad that I stuck with this book until the end.

4. Sugar: a sweet book

If you have been following my blog recently, you know how much I have enjoyed "A Ripple Effect Romance" novella series.   This is a clean romance series where a minor character from each book is chosen to be a mjor character in the next book.  These are super sweet cheesy romance stories that I really have enjoyed.

5. Icing: covers a lot of elements that I look for in a good book

Ted Dekker has a way of writing that is like no other author that I have ever known.  If you have ever read any of his books. you know that he is the king of suspense and plot development.  I love when authors use suspense well!  Ted Dekker also has great character building skills.  The characters in his novels are very dynamic.  Ted Dekker also adds a touch of fantasy in his Lost Books  series and oh man I do love fantasy!  Dekker also is very vocal about his faith and includes symbolism in many of his novels.

6. Sprinkles: the series that you keep coming back to that always makes you happy

This was a hard category to choose a series for, but I ended up choosing the Harry Potter series.  I grew up reading this series and it always brings back a lot of memories for me.  My favorite thing about this series is how J.K. Rowling never writes anything into her stories that are not important.  It seems like everything has a purpose to her stories.  For example, the book that was stabbed with the basilisk fang in the second book had a lot more meaning than was originally known by the reader.  Rowling's books are like puzzles and this keeps me coming back to this series to see if I can find anything else in the series that I did not notice before.

Bout of Books 10 Official Sign Up

I am so excited to announce that I am going to participate in the Bout of Books 10 Read-a-thon.  I would love if you would join me in this read-a-thon.  I chose to do this read-a-thon because it is just after my semester of college ends and I have been dying to read some more books.  Here is the official blurb about the read-a-thon:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I usually read approximately 200-300 pages in a week so my goals for this read-a-thon are:

1. To participate in all of the challenges and twitter chats 
2. To read at least 200 pages a day (or the Kindle book equivalent) for a total of 1400 pages, or approximately a book a day

Expect at least one post a day from me during this week.  As for the books that I will be reading, I am hoping to get through some of the books that I have received for review as well as continue reading the Lost Books series by Ted Dekker and the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

Here is a list of all the challenges and chats:

Challenges/Giveaways

Monday 5/12
If you like X, try Y -- The Book Barbies

Tuesday 5/13
Bookish Battle Royal -- My Life in Books
Books You're Looking Forward To -- River City Reading

Wednesday 5/14
Book Pairings -- My Overstuffed Shelves

Thursday 5/15
Spell It Out Challenge -- kimberlyfaye reads

Friday 5/16
Cover Scavenger Hunt -- Book Monsters
Rainbow Book Challenge -- Neon Yeti Reads

Saturday 5/17
Show an Author Some Love -- Doing Dewey

Sunday 5/18
Retitle Your Current Read -- Oh Magic Hour


Twitter Chats
(chats last approximately one hour)
TZC = Time Zone Conversion

Monday: 1pm CST (TZC)
Wednesday: 8pm CST (TZC)
Saturday: 10am CST (TZC)

Thursday Tags: Top 5 Most Embarrassing Unread Books

I would like to start a weekly section entitled "Thursdays Tags" where I do some of those popular tags about books that are floating around the internet.  The first tag that I am doing is my top 5 most embarrassing unread books.  I found this tag over at For the Love of Books.  So here it is in no particular order.

1. The Chronicles of Narnia Series

I am working on this one currently.  As a Christian and a fanatic about children's fiction (escpecially when it involves fantasy), I cannot believe that I have not read this whole series.  I am working on it though.







2. Cinder

This is a fairytale retelling and it has cyborgs! Why have I not read this yet? I have been wanting to read this book for over a year now because I have heard so many good reviews over this series, but I haven't gotten my hands on this one yet.  The key word here is yet.








3. The Darkest Minds

The fact that this seems to be dystopian and it involves children with powers they cannot control is the central reason that I have to have this book.  I want to read it so bad and it doesn't help that everyone has such positive reviews of it!







4. Any Brandon Sanderson novel

I absolutely adore fantasy novels and yet somehow I have not read any of Brandon Sanderson's novels.  This has to be fixed soon!









5. Fangirl

This story involves a college girl how is a fanatic about a series that is similar to Harry Potter.  I am in college. I love Harry Potter.  I must read this book!







I
f you have read any of these books, comment below on what you thought about them.  I would love to hear your opinions.  What are your most embarrassing unread books?

Children's Book Review Tuesday: Picture Books

Book Title: Eric, The Boy Who Lost His Gravity

Author: Jenni Desmond

Publish Date: March 11, 2014

 Why I Read this Book: I received a free copy of this book for review purposes from Edelweiss.  This in no way influenced my review.

 

 

Review

This book was not my favorite picture book.  The illustrations were not very pleasing.  I did love how the illustrations took up the whole page.  The story did not have much of a plot.  It was very simple.  I think that this book had potential, but I do not think it would be very memorable for a child.

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age:  5-8

Overall Rating: 2/5

Book Title: Scribbles and Ink: The Contest

Author: Ethan Long

Publish Date: September 10, 2013

 Why I Read this Book: I received a free copy of this book for review purposes from Edelweiss.  This in no way influenced my review.

 

 

Review

The illustrations in this book where drawn by the characters in the book.  I think that this was a great idea.  The story line was simple, yet really creative.  I think that children would really enjoy these books.

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age:  5-8

Overall Rating: 5/5

Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway: Righting a Wrong by Rachael Anderson

Tour Schedule

Righting a Wrong by Rachael Anderson

Seven years ago, Cambri Blaine fled her small hometown of Bridger, Colorado after her senior year ended in a fiasco. Only Jace Sutton knew the real reason why—that she was a spineless coward. Now, seven years later, her father's been in an accident and needs help, and Cambr has no choice but to return home. So with trepidation, she takes a leave of absence from the landscape architecture firm where she works and boards a plane, hoping against hope that Jace is no longer around and that the past can stay where it belongs—in the past.

If only life worked that way.

Jace never expected to see Cambri again. After she’d led him on, bruised his heart, and left town without a backward glance, he was forced to pick up the pieces and try not to hate her for it. Eventually, he put it behind him and moved on, creating a life for himself in his beloved hometown. But now that Cambri is back and looking more beautiful and sophisticated than ever, some of those old feelings resurface, and Jake instinctively knows, for the sake of his heart, that he needs to avoid her at all costs.

If only it were that easy.

Amazon * Kobo * Barnes & Noble

 

 

 

Review



I absolutely love this book, although it isn't my favorite in the series.  This book was full of heartbreak, suspense, and healing hearts.  I loved the characters in this novella because they are full of depth.  They change throughout the story, but you begin to feel like you know each of the characters in the story, even the minor characters, which can be a difficult task for a novella.  I would recommend this novella to any avid reader.

Author Rachael Anderson

A USA Today bestselling author, Rachael Anderson is the mother of four and is pretty good at breaking up fights, or at least sending guilty parties to their rooms. She can't sing, doesn't dance, and despises tragedies. But she recently figured out how yeast works and can now make homemade bread, which she is really good at eating.

Website * Twitter * Facebook

The Ripple Effect Romance Novella Series

Enjoy this exciting new series of clean novellas by six critically-acclaimed authors.


"Like a pebble tossed into calm water, a simple act can ripple outward and have a far-reaching effect on those we meet, perhaps setting a life on a different course—one filled with excitement, adventure, and sometimes even love."





Book 1: Home Matters by Julie N. Ford




Book 2: Silver Linings by Kaylee Baldwin




Book 3: Righting A Wrong by Rachael Anderson




Book 4: Lost and Found by Karey White




Book 5: Second Chances 101 by Donna K. Weaver




Book 6: Immersed by Jennifer Griffith

Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash




Ends 4/28/14




a Rafflecopter giveaway

Children's Book Review Tuesdays: The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

Book Title: The Magician's Nephew

Author:  C.S. Lewis

Illustrations by: Pauline Baynes

Publish Date: March 5, 2012 (Original Publishing Year: 1955)

Why I Read this Book: I want to get into the wonderful world that C.S. Lewis creates.  I am reading through the Chronicles of Narnia chronologically.

 

 

 

 

Review

I did not fully enjoy this book at first.  The plot was not well developed in the first 3/4 of the book.  The end of the book was wonderful and I finally understood the plot.  I enjoyed the world building aspects that the end of the book had.  I also enjoyed the introduction to the next book that was at the end of this book.  I enjoyed the illustrations that were in this version of the book.  I believe that it enhanced the book and made it more enjoyable for children.  I also really love this cover! I want to continue reading the series, but I hope the rest of the series is better than this book.

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age:  Any Age

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Blog Tour: Silver Linings

Tour Schedule

Silver Linings by Kaylee Baldwin

Drew Westfall wants nothing more than to forget what he had to do in the name of "smart" business. Cutting off all ties with his parents—including handing over the entire contents of his trust fund to a charity—he takes off for Bridger, Colorado where his best friend has an extra room for him. It doesn't take long for him to realize that his business degree won’t do him much good in a town as small as Bridger, but he's broke and has nowhere else to go.

Eden Torresi has every reason to wallow. Not only did she have to sell her house to pay for her mother’s medical expenses, but she also had to drop out of school and is in a relationship with a guy unwilling to commit. But Eden isn't the wallowing type. Instead, she chooses to spend most of her time taking care of the seniors at Silver Linings Assisted Living. When she learns that her boyfriend's new roommate is down on his luck, her caring nature makes her want to reach out to him and offer what help she can. But the more time they spend together, the more complicated things get, especially when the seniors of Silver Linings decide to play matchmaker.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo

Review

Silver Linings is a great second novella to the Ripple Effect Series.  It is written by a different author than the one that wrote the first book, Home Matters, and it can easily be read as a standalone.  The plot of this book was super enjoyable to me!  I loved the romance storyline and found it incredibly unique.  I cannot wait to read the third novella in this series!  

Rating
 5/5

Author Kaylee Baldwin

When Kaylee Baldwin isn’t writing, she’s usually chasing after her four children, checking her email, trying to get motivated to train for that race she shouldn’t have signed up for, hanging out with her pretty awesome husband, and reading whatever good book she can find. She graduated from Arizona State with degree in English Lit. Her published books are Meg’s Melody, Six Days of Christmas (part of the All I Want collection) and Silver Linings.

Website * Twitter * Facebook * Goodreads

The Ripple Effect Romance Novella Series

Enjoy this exciting new series of clean novellas by six critically-acclaimed authors.

"Like a pebble tossed into calm water, a simple act can ripple outward and have a far-reaching effect on those we meet, perhaps setting a life on a different course—one filled with excitement, adventure, and sometimes even love."

Book 1: Home Matters by Julie N. Ford

Book 2: Silver Linings by Kaylee Baldwin

Book 3: Righting A Wrong by Rachael Anderson

Book 4: Lost and Found by Karey White

Book 5: Second Chances 101 by Donna K. Weaver

Book 6: Immersed by Jennifer Griffith

Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 4/14/14

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Children's Book Review Tuesdays: Books About Bears!

Book Title: Bear in Underwear: Goodnight Underwear

Author:  Harriet Ziefert

Illustrations by: Todd H. Doodler

Publish Date: April 9, 2013

 Why I Read this Book: I received a free copy of this book for review purposes from Edelweiss.  This in no way influenced my review.

Find It Here: Amazon (affiliate link)
   

Review

This would be a great book to read before a child goes to sleep.  It is a cute book about a little bear that goes camping!  The meter for this book was fantastic and made it very catchy and song like.

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age:  4-8

Overall Rating: 4/5

Book Title: Does a Bear Wear Boots?

Author:  Harriet Ziefert

Illustrations by: Emily Bolam

Publish Date:  January 28, 2014

 Why I Read this Book: I received a free copy of this book for review purposes from Edelweiss.  This in no way influenced my review.

Find It Here: Amazon (affiliate link)
 

Review

This is a "Think about..." book.  In case you missed the previous posts about other "Think about..." books, these books provide the opportunity for children to learn and be active in reading.  Each book has a list of activities for children to do and think about that relate to this picture books.  I think it is a great idea for children to be active in learning and not just sit and listen. 

This book explores the idea of what clothes everyone wears.

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age:  3-7

Overall Rating: 4/5

 Book Title: 100 Bears

Author:  Magali Bardos

Illustrations by: Magali Bardos

Publish Date:  March 18, 2013

 Why I Read this Book: I received a free copy of this book for review purposes from Edelweiss.  This in no way influenced my review.

Find It Here: Amazon (find it here)

Review

This would be a great book to learn about counting.  It is very long for a children's book though.  The illustrations are great!

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age:  3-7

Overall Rating: 3/5