Beware of the Coyote

Sudden Mission by Guy L. Pace

                I was contacted directly by the author on this one (Thank you Guy!) and was very intrigued after reading the blurb. This book falls into the categories of Christian/Early Teen/Sci-fi. All were clearly evident in the book. Right off the bat I would like to say I liked this book. It was fun, adventurous, and entertaining.

Satan, once one of God’s favorites, now His Adversary, grows impatient with the plan and begins to harvest souls. In a fell swoop, he throws reality out of whack and the world into chaos. God calls on Paul and his friends Amy and Joe to set things right. The young teens journey through a messed up world—with a little help from an angel—struggling against everything the Adversary can throw in their path to accomplish their Sudden Mission.

With their world and their parents’ lives hanging in the balance—and the Adversary sending everything from zombies to Samurais to stand in their way—Paul will discover if he has the strength and faith to set things right again and stop Satan’s harvest.

I have to say though for a first book it was pretty good. It was obvious that it was a debut novel but it held my attention and kept me reading to find out what happened next. I loved the war between good and evil. Both sides were clearly stated and the inner struggle for Paul, the main character, was well done. Satan was depicted as a coyote and actually gave me chills at first!

               

            The supporting characters, Amy and Joe, seemed a little two-dimensional. They didn’t really grab me as someone to root for. The plot was very interesting. On the teens journey to Montana they encounter a number of foes sent by the Adversary (Satan). Monks, Zombies, Trolls, Samari Warriors, and Aliens. They were warned of these foes by an angel sent by God but they’re reactions seemed a little too toned down. Also, they seemed to come up with strategies awfully fast. These were kids who had never seen combat, death, or killed anything and yet none of these things seemed to faze them. 

              

             Maybe it was The Lord giving them peace but that wasn’t mentioned in the situation. Overall, I loved this book. It had the fun monsters and colorful plot of a middle grade novel with the action and character arc of a Y/A. 

Language: None

Alcohol/drugs: In another reality, slightly hard cider is served in a tavern

Violence: 4

Sexual Content: None

Spiritual Content: This is a Christian novel based on spiritual warfare so it is very evident in the book

Currently Reading: Nasty Left Overs (Book 2) by Guy L. Pace

Next Post: Nasty Left Overs by Guy L. Pace

Rapunzel, Rapunzel

Cress by Marissa Meyer

This series just keeps getting better and better and that’s exactly how it should be. This is a review of book three in The Lunar Chronicles and this is my new favorite. I’m pretty sure I’ll say that for each new book that I read in the series but for now Cress is my favorite.

I found Cress’s character to be very endearing and I instantly fell in love with her. Her “crush” on Captain Thorne was so cute and made for some hilarious moments. Thorne’s character really developed and matured in this book. He was actually kind and heroic which is a side of him we haven’t seen until now. I also loved that Cress brought that out in him. He wanted to be those things for her.

As much as I initially loved Cinder my opinion of her decreased in the last book Scarlet. I don’t know what it was but I just wasn’t impressed. But, I’m happy to say she did some pretty spectacular things in this book that made me eager to see her character progress. Kai was adorable as usual but that’s about it. I didn’t see a whole lot of grown in him either. I mean, I understand the difficulty of his position and all but he just wasn’t the character I hoped for.

The story line as a whole was spectacular and I loved every second of it. Cress is inspired by the fairy tale Rapunzel. The similarities in  the story were weaved throughout well and I loved that aspect of it. It held my attention for long periods of time (the longest was four hours straight) and I was constantly surprised by the events and twists. Meyer’s writing is just so easy to read and understand. You can really get inside the story which is exactly what you want your readers to do.

Language: None

Alcohol/drugs: Some characters are mentioned to be drinking

Violence: Gun and fist fights. Someone is tortured with hallucinations and mind control (a power of the Lunars)

Sexual Content: Kissing here and there most of it is mild and some is a little more passionate but nothing more than that.

Spiritual Content: None

Currently Reading: The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

Next Post: Special Announcement and Full Review of Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

2/12

February Wrap-up, Haul, and TBR

Books Read

I finished reading All the Bright Places in the beginning of the month and then moved on to Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer. Let me tell you, I could not put it down. I read it for four hours straight one Sunday afternoon and finished it three days. There will definitely be a review coming soon.  

After Cress I tried to read Eleanor by Jason Gurley but couldn’t get into it. Not after how amazing Cress was. So I actually didn’t read for a few days. When I was ready to dive into a book I picked out something I knew would be good. My TBR challenge this month was “A book with non-human characters”. What I picked is my current read and my last book of the month. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas. It has…creatures in it.

February Haul

               

                The first book, I got for my birthday. It is a Puffin Chalk edition of The Wizard of OZ by L. Frank Baum. It’s my favorite classic and I’ve been eyeing this edition forever. I also received the first book in The Shannara Chronicles by Terry Brookes. It is the TV show edition titled The Elf Stones of Shannara. This book is a high fantasy novel, set in a fictional world called the Four Lands. It follows the quest of Wil Ohmsford and Amberle Elessedil to create a new Ellcrys, a magical tree that serves to banish all Demons from the Four Lands.

               

                Later in the month I bought some books on Amazon the first being The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles #1) by Mary E. Pearson. This story follows a seventeen-year-old princess who is betrothed to a prince she does not know and runs away on her wedding day. She settles in a distant village and meets two mysterious men. One, the prince, and the other, an assassin sent to kill her. It sounds so good and I can’t wait to read it! The other book is The Love that Split the World by Emily Henry which is a sci-fi novel with time travel. That concludes my February haul!

My March Reading List

1.       Finishing up Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

2.       The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

3.       Allegiant by Veronica Roth

4.       TBR- A book with plants on the cover

Currently Reading: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

Next Post: (I haven’t decided yet)

Cyborgs and Booktube

Cinder

 Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . .

           Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction.

            Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.

            I am going to use this post to introduce you to two things very close to my heart. Booktube and Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I mentioned Cinder in my 2015 wrap up post so if it looks familiar that's why :)

            Booktube:

 So, if you didn’t know, there is a whole community of people on YouTube with channels dedicated to books. I know, it’s so amazing I need to take a moment…okay, let’s continue. So basically, these young people do book reviews and book related videos. Oh, the joys of spending your afternoon watching people talk about books. Here are the links to some of my favorite Booktubers:

Tasha Polis- https://www.youtube.com/user/tashapolis

Jesse- https://www.youtube.com/user/jessethereader

Christine Riccio- https://www.youtube.com/user/polandbananasBOOKS

Sasha- https://www.youtube.com/user/abookutopia

I also want to introduce you to possibly one of my favorite books ever.

           Ta-da! Isn’t she gorgeous? This book had the whole package, amazing plot, amazing characters, and amazing writing. I finished this 387 page novel in 2 ½ days. Whoop whoop! I’m so excited about this book can’t ya tell? Instead of me blabbering on I am going to insert review of Cinder by one of the Booktubers mentioned above.

Language: None

Alcohol/drugs: There are some drugs used for scientific and medical purposes

Violence: 2

Sexual Content: None

Spiritual Content: None

Currently Reading: Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles book #2) By Marissa Meyer

Next Post: Full Review of Throne of Glass By Sarah J. Maas