Tag: horror

Book Review · Books

Blood Shadow by Dianna Hardy [BOOK REVIEW]

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book review blood shadow blood never lies dianna hardy an eye of the storm bestseller halloween books read reading goodreads blog blogging diaryofdifference diary of difference

★★★

Blood Shadow (Blood Never Lies #1) is a companion novel for An Eye of The Storm Series.

Blood Shadow can be read without reading the previous books. At the beginning, the author has included a recap of everything you need to know about the main character, before you start reading this book.

Blood Shadow was an interesting read, that is for certain. At the beginning I felt a bit lost in time and it took me  awhile to understand what is going on, despite the recap that was provided by the author.

A woman wakes up in a hospital and can’t remember anything. Some anonymous person saved her life and gives her the name Jennifer, alongside with a whole new life.

She knows her real name is Selena. She also knows she was a werewolf but is not anymore. It seems she is human now, because her wounds are not healing as they usually would. Selena/Jennifer also remembers all the sexual abuse she went through before. Being tortured and raped and even persuaded to kill her brother. It feels like that was a lifetime ago.

And now, five years after her new life begun, she lives quietly and has a normal job and a boyfriend. The only thing that reminds her of her werewolf days are the sweaty nightmares. And now Jennifer has received a new note – on of those that her anonymous friend leaves for her now and then, advising her when she is in danger. But this time, the note says something different: a Supermoon is coming, and with that, a total lunar eclipse.

This is the moment when things start to get confusing for me. There is an anonymous person, he sends her notes that have saved her life, he is always watching her, and now they need to meet, because she is in big danger and he has a secret to tell her. But he also doesn’t want to reveal his true identity yet.

[SPOILER ALERT]

Long story short, he is one of the people that were there during her sexual abuse period. And he didn’t do anything to help save her. Also, it turns out that she is also a mermaid, which is why she is able to do some things, but also doesn’t have full powers.

And things keep being more and more confusing. From a werewolf story, we jump onto mermaids. The title also made me think that vampires bight be involved, which isn’t the case. And we also might see dragons in the next book. I am not against having all these fantasy creatures into one place, but I felt that it needed to be explained better.

I felt for the girl – it must be extremely hard to live with such past and then to also have to constantly be hiding and never be truly happy. She tried to live a normal life as well, but just ended up hurting the people around her.

I am not sure that I connected enough with this book. The ending wasn’t a conclusive one – it seemed as if it only was an opening for yet another book of the many. It didn’t feel like any of the characters grew or learned from their past actions, which was slightly disappointing.

It is a nice chill book to read in your spare time, if you like these types of books. But it is nothing out of the ordinary. I don’t believe I will remember how it ended or what it was about in a few months.

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Book Review · Books

The Struggle (The Vampire Diaries #2) by L.J. Smith [BOOK REVIEW]

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book review the vampire diaries the awakening the struggle l. j. smith bestseller halloween books read reading goodreads blog blogging diaryofdifference diary of difference

★★★★★

The Struggle is the continuation of the Vampire Diaries Series by L.J. Smith. The second book that features the life of popular girl Elena Gilbert and her endeavors with the mysterious vampire brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore.

The Struggle continues where The Awakening ends; Elena is looking to talk to Damon, knowing that he has something to do with Stefan’s disappearance.

I felt like there was more action in this book, compared to the first one. It made me more engrossed with the story and I was very excited for all the twists.

Elena was obviously the main character in this book, alongside Stefan and Damon. I am not sure how I felt about Elena in this book. She seemed to ignore everyone for a while and just be her selfish self – which resulted in getting people in trouble.

On the other hand, I really loved the history of Stefan and Damon. The memories from hundreds of years ago. The author manager to portray the time very well, and I was easily transported into another world, another time… I think these scenes were definitely the favourite part of this book.

I wish we saw more chapters with Bonnie and Meredith. Even though best friends, it didn’t feel like they were too involved in the story. We didn’t get to know them properly and it has already been two books. I really hope book three will let us meet these two characters better.

I am happy with the book in general.

The scenes, the plot, the twists – they were all very carefully put together. Elena’s love choices are opening up, letting us wonder which brother she might choose. Making us choose sides (team Damon here!). This battle between the love and hate of the two brothers definitely seems interesting.

The ending was everything I was hoping for and now I can’t wait for the next book. The Awakening and The Struggle were only an introduction and the real adventures are yet to begin!

I recommend it to all of you that love young-adult, teen romance and vampire stories. It will keep you on your toes for sure!

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Book Review · Books

The Awakening (The Vampire Diaries #1) by L.J. Smith [BOOK REVIEW]

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book review the vampire diaries the awakening l. j. smith bestseller halloween books read reading goodreads blog blogging diaryofdifference diary of difference

★★★★★

I had The Awakening and the Struggle (the first and second books from the Vampire Diaries series) on my shelf for years.

When I say years, I mean it. It all started when I was in high-school, around 6 years ago, and I was in love with the Vampire Diaries TV Show. When I found out there are books as well, I begged my mum to buy them for me. And once I had them, I never got to read them, because teenage logic…

I recently noticed the Vampire Diaries books sitting on my shelf, forgotten, and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to read it in October, because of the whole spooky vibe. So there it is now – even thought the wheel didn’t choose it, I did, because it deserved the attention!

Elena Gilbert is a popular girl in high-school and she always gets what she wants. Boys want to be with her, girls hate her, or want to be her best friends. And when this new boy Stefan comes into town, all mysterious, Elena wants him. But Stefan is hiding a deadly secret that Elena might now be ready for just yet. And her life, as well as the life of everyone living in Fell’s Church is in grave danger… Elena finds herself between two brothers – one who came for a new life, and the other, who came for revenge…

Reading this book, while already knowing what the plot it, I thought I found find it boring. But no. I still enjoyed every single page of it, and I still devoured this book in one day.

From the first chapter, this book is intense and captures your attention. It is written in third person, but it also contains diary entries that belong to Elena and capture her deepest thoughts that she doesn’t dare share with anyone else.

I loved Elena!

Her character is exactly what I was expected and what I have known to love – brave and fierce, and also willing to sacrifice her own happiness and safety for the people she loves the most. 

Elena’s friends, Meredith and Bonnie are the friends every girl needs. Funny and caring. A few pages in, and you will get to love them too.

Stefan – the mysterious new guy in school. The guy that tries to stay away from the girl he really wants because he’s a danger to her. A little bit of Twilight vibes, but we can get past that. Because there is one thing that Twilight didn’t have, that you can find reading The Vampire Diaries…

DAMON

Even though we only get a glimpse of him in this book, we can feel his presence throughout the whole book. We can feel his connection with Elena, as weird and spooky as it may be. All that danger that he carries with him, we all want to see whether there’s anything good in him at all. His story is the most intriguing one, I think. His hunger for revenge makes you really understand both sides of the story and choose a side for yourself.

So, are you team Stefan, or team Damon?

I loved reading this – it was an amazing experience and it reminded me of my high-school days, of those innocent happy memories. My teenage life didn’t include vampires, but hey – it was still awesome!

Pick the Vampire Diaries up if you love Young Adult spooky books, if you loved Twilight and if you love vampire, love and mystery stories in general.

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Book Review · Books

The Other Mrs Miller by Allison Dickson

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★★★

The Other Mrs Miller is a great mystery to help you out on a boring day. But if you are looking for the dark and twisty masterpiece to blow your mind, I’m afraid this is not it…

Phoebe Miller is married to a man she doesn’t love. He is a psychotherapist and Phoebe feels he constantly analyses her. She doesn’t work because her father was rich. And when he died, women started to tell their stories of all the terrible things he did. All Phoebe wants to do is hide in her house. But she feels constantly watched and notices a car parked on her street almost every day. And then there are these new neighbours that are clearly hiding something. Should she be worried?

There were a lot of relationships in this book that I had an issue with:

  • the husband that treats his wife as a study subject
  • the wife that treats her husband as garbage
  • the new relationship between a man with the IQ of a three-year-old and a woman that has no clue of what she wants
  • the unknown sister who would rather threaten you or kill you, than come and tell you she is your sister
  • the overprotective mother who doesn’t let her child speak

A very different, and at times, confusing plot. Interesting beginning and introduction, followed by a boring section in the book. A bit of tiny action, and then a slow paced stage again. And finally, an epilogue with a lot of pressure, many characters and a lot of mystery. Very satisfying, until the very last chapter, where the author turns everything around with another small twist, and here I am, sitting on my sofa, with the Kindle in my hand, thinking: THIS IS NOT RIGHT. 

A final twist, without any buildup, or any hints, without making any sense or adding to the story in any way. I wish the author or their editor just deleted that last bit. Disappointing.

I did enjoy the whole book, but the very end left me with a bad after-taste and I can’t give it more than these three stars. Amazing mystery, but ahh, if I could just forget about that last chapter.

If you love mysteries, I am still recommending this. You might enjoy it more than I did.
Thank you to the team at Netgalley, for sending me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Book Review · Books

Carrie – Stephen King [BOOK REVIEW]

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★★★★

I am probably one of the last people on Earth that hasn’t read a Stephen King book. Carrie is the first book I decided to read. People have been suggesting it to me for a while, and it seemed like a nice short bit of introduction to Stephen’s horror world.

Also, a special thank you to my friend Dave, for constantly recommending Stephen King books to me, until I finally decided to listen to him. He seemed to be right! Don’t forget to go and follow him – he is amazing!

Now – Carrie.

A book about a girl that lives with her crazy religious mother in a creepy house. A girl who is being bullied at school all the time. A story about a girl that has the ability to move objects as she wishes. And a prom night, where everything escalates.

Carrie is a sixteen year old girl. And she has been raised by her mother, who is a religious person in a – not healthy way. When Carrie misbehaves, she is sent to a closet to pray for the whole day. Even though Carrie doesn’t share her mother’s beliefs, she can’t really stand up and fight for herself.

The plot gets a grip when Carrie has her first period at the age of sixteen. She thinks she will bleed to death. And all her classmates are laughing at her, because she is stupid. And throw tampons her way. And as I am reading this, I keep thinking – what kind of mother won’t tell her child about menstruation, and puberty, and all the normal teenage phases a kid has to go through while growing up?

This moment, in the school bathroom, is the moment Carrie finds out about her powers.

And a few weeks later, a terrible thing happens.

This is a horror story, but the horror doesn’t lie in what Carrie did, but what led her to do that. Who it is to blame, and why things escalated the way they did.

Stephen King described bullying in its most painful and real way, and the consequences it can lead to. And it does happen, in every school, to a lot of children all over the world each day. A sometimes, most of the times, they are bullied only because they are different, not because they are bad.

This is a story that silently stands up to bullying, and by doing that raises such a strong voice in every corner of the world.

And remember – if you are the bully – think twice before you say things. Words can hurt, and they can result in bad things happening. Think twice about why you say what you say. The classmate of yours might have a talent you don’t know of.

And if you are the bullied child – also remember – you are kind and beautiful, no matter what everyone says. You shouldn’t let people bring you down. And we have all been bullied while growing up. Once you reach a certain age, people stop caring, and you stop caring what people think, and then, finally, you can be comfortable and happy with who you are!

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