H.N. Oetken's Blog

My close friend, who I met at our medical office job and is now also my editor and agent, let me borrow this book and promised that I would love it. She said it was right down my ally...and she was right!

👍 Character Development
👍 Story Progression
👍 Writing Style

I finished it a couple weeks ago and just haven't gotten around to creating a review yet. First of all, this book has some incredible illustrations by Dave McKean. I found it quite nice, actually, to be going along with the story, getting intense with the reading, and suddenly there is a well-timed break in the tension to illustrate something that may have been a little difficult to imagine or a little more intriguing with the illustration than without it.

This adventurous story begins with an intriguing hook (which you can preview above). A man quietly makes his way through the house, killing all of its occupants except one. This one, barely a toddler, escapes him, and finds himself near a graveyard whose inhabitants (ghosts, mostly) take him under their wing and shield him from the dangerous world beyond the graveyard gate.

To see the rest of my review, visit my blog! :)
https://heathersbookreports.blogspot....

Phasma




Happy Sunday! I finished reading "Phasma" a couple days ago, and had to let it sink in and germinate a little before I shared anything about it. This was another Christmas gift from my wonderful boyfriend, who is a Star Wars addict, so this gift was really for both of us :)

👍Character Development
👍Story Progressoin
👍Writing Style

This is the backstory of Captain Phasma, the silver storm trooper. She is from a brutal, back-water blanket called Parnassos. She is a fierce warrior, and basically through out the story you see, several times over, that she is willing to do anything to not only survive, but to get ahead. This is not the only part of the story, though.

To read the rest of my review, visit my blog here: http://heathersbookreports.blogspot.c...

Happy reading!
~h.n. Cowley

01/18/2016 @ 5:17pm

Since I finished "Antigoddess", I have also read the following books:
"Take a Piece of my Heart" by Diane Rose Duffy
"The 5th Wave" by Rick Yancey
"The Infinite Sea" by Rick Yancey
"A Bad Character A Novel" by Deepti Kapoor

I've reviewed all of these books, and so let me tell you what I think of them.

~
Take a Piece of My Heart
Diane Rose Duffy

Take a Piece of My Heart

I'm not going to lie, I cracked this book open, just to slam it closed again after the first two or three pages, and left it like that for months. I didn't like the writing style, I thought the character was stupid. No the character development by the author, but the character herself, and I thought to myself, "How the hell am I going to get through 235 starch white pages of nothing but a dumb girl who cusses a lot and has sex with a dumb guy?"
Well.
After a month or two, I decided that the weight of a purchased, unfinished book was weighing too heavily on me, and I tried it again with a fresh mind set. A more open mind set.
I couldn't put the damn thing down. The character was easily related to, and soon I felt myself feeling all of the same things she was. Her struggles, her depression, her triumphs, were all mine too.
Yes, yes, yes, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to be close to the character, regardless of the trials or tribulations.

~
The Fifth Wave

The 5th Wave

The Infinite Sea

The Infinite Sea
Rick Yancey

There are no words I have that can describe the greatness of these books. Others may not agree with my fangirlisms, but I feel what I feel and I'm not going to hide it.

Dystopian (which, as we all know I love), alien invasion, end of days, the impossible struggle to survive, the inability to trust anyone around you while the unbearable weight of lonliness suffocates you.

That is what it's like to be inside of Rick Yancey's newest novels.

The format of the books is unique and makes it interesting. Chapters within sections, which are each from a different character's point of view. Some are first person, some are third person. The imagery is astounding in some sections, all of my senses are in the scene, like I have literally jumped from my world into theirs.

I would recommend these books to anyone and everyone!

~
A Bad Character
Deepti Kapoor

A Bad Character

This book was interesting. It wasn't intense, or thrilling. I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone.
It's written as a journal. No chapters, only three sections, to break up the monotony I suppose.
This girl lives in India, and though she knows she does not want to be arranged to marry anyone that her aunt wants her to marry, she is incredibly passive the rest of the time, taking in experiences as they come, exploring her city and seeing it as she's never seen it before.
The author goes into incredible detail about Delhi and the surrounding areas, the poverty, the culture, the laws of drugs, drinking, driving, and abuse that don't seem to exist in her world.

The book, at least for me, was somehow, at the same time, boring and intriguing. I suppose because I could not relate to the character what so ever, but there were so many interesting things about the way she lived, her habits, and her life, that I will never know as an American woman.

It definitely wasn't a page-turning, and it wasn't a happy story by any means, but if you're looking for something different, something with culture, I would really recommend this one.

~

That's all I have for now! I think I'll go the route of non-fiction next, watch for my blog! :)

Much love,
~Heather

10/05/2015 @ 7:18pm


Antigoddess

Kendare Blake

I've read "Anna Dressed in Blood" and "Girl of Nightmares" by this author, though it was over a year ago, maybe even longer, and they were hard to put down. I was enthralled by the imagery this author can scrawl across the page and it kept my attention even as she was describing the scenery surrounding the characters (which usually loses my focus with most other authors, including Veronica Roth, from time to time).

Beginning "Antigoddess" even in the forward, reminded me of how fascinating her writing really is, and how well put together her story, descriptions, and ideas are.

I am excited to read more!!


01/18/2016
I finished Antigoddess a while back, and finished it fairly quickly. I actually held my breath during some of the battle scenes, and didn't realize it until the scene was over, I'd released my breath, and wondered why the room was spinning.

I would recommend this book to anyone who appreciates the ancient classic "The Odyssey", because the characters aren't just based off of the gods and goddesses of Homer's time, they ARE them.

I absolutely LOVE how the author plunged the ancients into our present day and created a battle of the Gods in our world.

It's an incredible story, and I'm so so SO happy that this is a series, and that I can read more of this story!

Much love,
~Heather

Hey everyone!

I'm going to start off by saying that I'm not very committed to keeping journal or blog entries consistent. I update when I feel like updating, otherwise I'm busy working, hanging out with friends, reading, or writing.

Anyway, I recently finished the third book in the Divergent trilogy. I have not read the short stories yet, though I'm not sure I'll get to them any time soon.

I loved Divergent, and not just because I've also seen the movies. I'm actually not a big fan of the movies, however I will go see the third because I've already seen the other two.

I do recommend the books if you like the Utopian/Dystopian, "fight for survival", political sabotage type stories. Yes, there is romance and tragedy. Yes, it is young adult, but it is also action and drama packed.

Highly recommended and now I'm getting into "Antigoddess", the first in the "Goddess War" series by Kendare Blake. I will update this blog when I get through the first book! :)

Much love,
~Heather