Grip of the Shadow Plague

Grip of the Shadow Plague is the third book in the Fablehaven series. So far it was my least favorite of the three books.

I am excited to see that Seth has grown and learned a lot since his encounter with the faeries. Learning precautions and boundaries Seth is slowly becoming a man while still finding his share of mishaps. Wanting to help in any way he can Seth is determined to find his own special gifts that will allow him to advance his understanding of magical creatures.

Kendra is not nearly as developed as Seth, I see her constantly going in a circle with who she is. The same things keep happening to her with the same outcome it feels like. I want to see her break out of her cycle of constantly begging others for help and stepping up to help herself.

The story just seemed slower to me in Grip of the Shadow Plague. No real answers were given to problems and while new problems arose they were not as interesting to me. I do plan on continuing the series but first I have some other books I have to enjoy.

The Program

The cover of The Program has intrigued me for awhile and when I saw the library had a copy available I checked it out.

Sloane is terrified of the Program, along with the rest of the teenage population. Going throughout her day doing her best to mask the feelings of sadness and hopelessness Sloane fears that one little slip up will get her sent to the Program. She cannot trust her teachers, her classmates, even her parents, they are always watching waiting for the shell to crack. The only person Sloane can trust is James her long time boyfriend. With his strength to lean on she is able to keeping holding on day after day growing weaker with each even in her life.

I have mixed feelings about The Program, it defiantly left me with lots of questions and no clear answer as to why teens are killing themselves at such a high rate. Since everything is told from Sloane's point of view I was never really able to get a good understanding of the other characters or how they felt about the Program besides fear. I do plan on reading The Treatment once it becomes available at the library.

Puddin'

Puddin' is the second book in the Dumplin' series and I was not sure I wanted to read it at first. However when I was loading up my Nook for a road trip I saw it was available at the local library so I check it out and I am glad I did.

Millie dreams of attending summer broadcast camp and finally ditching out on the weight lose Daisy camp however her mother has different ideas for her. Determined to have the world accept her as she is Millie ignores her mother's desire for her to be thin and continue to try to diet and lose weight. Millie is a strong character who despite being bullied for her she looks does not hold it against people. When her uncle's gym is trashed by some angry teenage girls Millie is key in identifying one of the girls and as a punishment the girl is forced to work at the gym to pay off her debt.

Callie has it all, she is next in line to lead the Shamrocks as captain, has a hot boyfriend, and is determined to help her team attend state and then nationals. Living the good life she loses it all when she participates in vandalizing a local gym. Horrified at being discovered she takes the fall for the team and is forced to work at the gym along with Millie, whom she has bullied most of her life.

The two girls learn about differences and how to overcome them. I loved the real life interactions between Millie and Callie. I could see the conversations happening. Julie Murphy has a smooth and pleasant ability when it comes to writing. One thing bothers me though I want to know why Malik sat with Millie, he did not seem like the type of person who was incapable of sitting in a regular desk like the other students. I would not be against reading another companion novel in the Dumplin' series.

The Last Wish

The Last Wish has been on my to read list for several years, I finally sought it out after seeing a coworker reading a book in the series. My coworker preceded to tell me all about Sapkowski and his Polish ancestry. Since I am half Polish I was a bit more intrigued. I did start The Last Wish having played a couple hours of one of the games so I knew a bit about what a Witcher is.

Geralt is an interesting character with many levels to him. I am intrigued if his emotions are that reserved due to being a Witcher and his training or if it is just his personality. Without a doubt he has a strong sense of justice and clearly wants to do what is right all the time. That heroic rush into battle to save anyone is something I admire and I found it made the story interesting in a lot of ways. What threw me was the way the chapters changed, I could not keep up with what was going on or when it was going on. My favorite part was Sapkowski and the way he retold some famous fairy tales to have them fit into a dark world full of monsters.

I am not sure I will continue the series despite loving the writing. Without a doubt Sapkowski is one of the most elegant storytellers I have ever read. What deters me is trying to figure out what is going on, I am not sure if the time line is jumping around, I am confused on who side characters are, and just when I got interested into the story it would move on to something else. In some ways it felt like a lot of short stories combined into one big book.

The Murder Pit

The Murder Pit is the first book in A Moose Mystery Murder series. I was in the mood for something that felt a bit like Halloween for me and this fit the theme I was looking for plus it was free on my Nook.

Daisy is excited to find a great historical fixer upper house, at least until her and her family move in and start to learn the true extent of the problems in the house. While defrosting some pipes Daisy notices a small door and opens it finding a coal chute that she did not know about when buying the house along with a dead body inside. Things get even more complicated when it turns out Daisy went on a date with the deceased a couple years ago. With suspicion pointed at her Daisy is determined to solve the crime.

My major problem with the story is that Daisy elected to home school her children (which is fine) but I never saw any actual learning going on. Everything seemed to mock the home schooling program and I cringed when Daisy made outlandish connections with homeschooling on how every day activities, like playing in the snow, were preparing her kids for life. I would not say no to reading another book in the series since I enjoyed the overall story of The Murder Pit but it is not something I am in a hurry to do.