Book Review: The Stereotypical Freaks

Katie September 11, 2015 0 Comments

The Stereotypical Freaks starts out as just Dan and Tom, who play guitar in Tom’s basement. When Tom sees a guy ask out his crush of six years and then enter the battle of the bands that Dan has been bugging him about entering, Tom impulsively signs them up and then they need to look for 2 more band members.

They end up adding Mark, Tom’s childhood best friend that drifted once he started playing football and Jacoby, an exchange student who is a great drummer.

I don’t want to give too much away, but I thought that this was going to be just another book (comic book) about high school kids starting a band and winning the battle of the bands. Boy was I wrong, it was so much more than that and a very emotional journey.

I liked that before each chapter there were a couple of songs recommended for you to listen to. It ends up being a pretty nice playlist!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Four disparate high school seniors come together to compete in their school’s battle of the bands. Sharing a love for playing rock and roll, the members name the band “The Stereotypical Freaks” because they feel stereotyped by their classmates – smart kid, geek, star athlete and quiet weirdo… when in fact they know they are much more than those labels that have been placed on them. When one member reveals life altering news, winning the competition takes on more of a meaning to each member. Scared and angry, upset and yet still with a lot of resolve they set out to win one for the good guys… will they?

Book Review: Uncharted

Katie September 11, 2015 0 Comments

Uncharted is the 3rd book in a series – the first 2 are Unlike Any Other and Unsurprisingly Complicated with Uncut and Unable to Forget still to come. I haven’t read the other books in the series.  Having not read the first 2, I had no problem reading this one as a one-off.

The book starts 10 year ago to give you a back story on Jacob. He meets a girl Pria who he seems to fall in love at first sight with, but she isn’t interested. He tries to convince her and finally she gives him a weekend. When she leaves, he asks for her number, but his phone is dead so she has to write it down.  The paper goes missing and when he decides to go to find her, his life changes, forever.

10 years later and the two have moved on from each other and with their lives, but somehow their paths have crossed again.  Both of them have tried so hard to move on from each other, but are fighting being together again. Will they realize that they truly are meant to be? Or will their stubbornness keep them apart?

I have to say that the beginning of this book really drew me in. I didn’t want to put it down.  Of course, once Pria and Jacob weren’t with each other anymore I didn’t really like the book any more, but I stuck it out to see how things would end up. I was ok with the ending, but a lot of the book was frustrating to read.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Jacob

As a rule, men don’t grow up believing in a happily ever after. We don’t believe in meeting the love of our lives or the white picket fence, and 2.5 children. Every man thinks that those stupid dreams or fantasies are just nonexistent shit until it happens to them. We should have been forewarned.

I wish I was prepared for someone to appear in my life and change all my priorities. I suddenly wanted that fence and children. The part of meeting the love of my life became very real, but I wasn’t ready for suddenly losing it all, and my life plummeting into this shithole forever.

The heartbreak of losing your soulmate is one of the worst pains you will ever live with. I should campaign and warn the young people. Vaccinate against love because if you lose it, you could lose yourself for the rest of your life. The burden on your back will forever mark you and wither away your soul, darkening your days and the rest of your natural life.

This isn’t false advertisement or a dramatic display of one bitter soul.

Pria

I fought by my mother’s side until her last breath, and tried to help my father until his last memories dissipated. My sister is the last one standing, but her life is a miracle that can end at any given moment. All my life I’ve never been alone, but always felt lonely.

Today, my options on how to live my life are endless, yet my heart and my best friend limit them. Stay in Seattle, close to the one person that will never let me inside his world.

The thug, as mom would’ve called him. A man with a bad boy attitude and a heart bigger than the ocean.

Book Review: Uncle Scrooge Pure Viewing Satisfaction

Katie September 11, 2015 0 Comments

I typically do not review comic books because they are harder for me to read, but when I saw this Uncle Scrooge book it reminded me so much of my childhood that I had to give it a chance.  I just had to see what Uncle Scrooge, Donald and Huey Dewey and Lewy were getting into. The book has several different comics within it and all of them are relatively short so they can be read by kids in one sitting before bed or they can read the whole book in an afternoon if they’d like. My favorite of the book was the one where they were on the ship and were trying to find treasure. In addition to a great story, it had great illustrations as well!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

The adventures of Uncle Scrooge return in these kid-friendly-sized collections. Includes the stories “The Wraith of Gigabeagle,” “Shiver Me Timebers,” “The Duckburg 100,” and more!