Cannonball Read Update

I've finished my Cannonball Read this year!!! So excited! I've been slacking on my reading for the past few years, so I signed up to read and review 52 books in 2011 (hence, this blog).

I just signed up for Cannonball Read IV for 2012 - another 52 books. Here is all the info if anyone else is interested:

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Blog: http://cannonballread4.wordpress.com/
Sign Up Form: http://cannonballread4.wordpress.com/sign-up/
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Triangles by Ellen Hopkins (CBR-III #52)

Cannonball Read III: Book #52/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 544 (190,458 total pages so far)
Genre: Fiction

If you've read my reviews before, you know I love Ellen Hopkins. She finally wrote an adult novel (she normally writes YA) and I've been really excited to read it. My only complaint is that the Kindle edition is going for $12.99! I really wish publishers would keep the price under $10. They're making mostly profit off of it anyways since there are no physical costs (ink, paper, etc.).

Triangles revolves around three women, all who are in entangled in some sort of extramarital affair. Holly has recently lost a lot of weight and enjoys the attention she is now getting from men. Usually it ends with some shameless flirting, but now she's delving deeper. Her best friend Andrea is a single mom with a teenage daughter who can't seem to find a decent guy to date...so she finds herself in bed with Holly's neglected husband. Andrea's sister, Marissa, finds out her husband has been cheating while she stays at home with her special needs daughter and deals with her son coming out as being gay.

I just love the drama in Ellen Hopkin's books. The poetic writing just flows off the page, making the 500+ page book seem much shorter. This book was everything I was hoping it would be. I'm glad Hopkins didn't tone it down for an adult audience -- she simply transferred the drama to more adult issues. 

Of course I still didn't have much to relate to with this book either. The teenage books are fun, but I'm 26 and can't really relate to 16-year-old drama anymore. This book was 30-something moms with teenage kids. Obviously not really my demographic either. However, I still really enjoyed the novel. I'm just hoping one day Hopkins decides to write a book about 20-somethings and their drama. I definitely hope she ventures more into the adult novels in the future. 

The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant by Terry Felber (CBR-III #51)

Cannonball Read III: Book #51/52

Published: 2005
Pages: 160 (189,914 total pages so far)
Genre: Self-help

Okay, so this is not a book I would ever pick out on my own. I wasn't even going to include it for CBR, but I was one book short. My husband wanted me to read it because he's all into these leadership/business books right now. I find them to be INCREDIBLY boring. 

This book was no exception. It's pretty short, but felt like it took weeks to read. I was just so bored. It's basically an allegory about good business and money practices. It's a fable of sorts about a young boy learning good business ideas from his granddad in 16th century Italy. 

If you're into these type of books, I guess it wouldn't be that bad. I personally just can't imagine anything more boring than reading business books, so I'm probably not the best person to review this type of book.

Legend by Marie Lu (CBR-III #50)

Cannonball Read III: Book #50/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 305 (189,754 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian


Legend takes place is a future Los Angeles that is part of the controlling government called the Republic, who is fighting a war against the Colonies (who want freedom). The book starts out going back and forth between two main characters who couldn't be more different. Day is from a poor family. He now lives on the street and is the most wanted terrorist against the Republic. June is a wealthy girl from the inner city who has strong ties to the military government. After her brother is killed, she goes on a quest to hunt down his killer -- who she is believes is Day. 


Eventually June and Day's paths cross and there is the requisite teenage romance, but it's not overbearing or irritating like in some YA novels. I thought the characters were well written and weren't one-dimensional. Their backstories were fleshed out and you actually got to know the characters.


However, this wasn't really my favorite novel. I  struggled to get through it because it was a little slow. The action parts were pretty good, but there seemed to be a lot of filler. I felt like some of the ideas that were brought up (such as the government conspiracy regarding the plagues) were really interesting, but only briefly mentioned. Also, I know it's nit-picky, but I thought the way June figured out her brother's code in his journals was a huge long shot. I mean, really? There is NO WAY anyone would ever crack that code, especially by accident.


Overall, I guess I was just expecting more. 

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (CBR-III #49)

Cannonball Read III: Book #49/52
Published: 2006
Pages: 352 (189,449 total pages so far)
Genre: Fantasy


I actually read this book back in July, but was going over my list of books for Cannonball Read and realized that I never reviewed this one! This review might be short and/or vague since it's been six months or so since I actually read it.


The Book of Lost Things is sort an adult fairy tale. I love fantasy books and movies, so I found it to be pretty interesting. Twelve-year-old David is having a hard time with his father remarrying after the death of his mother, so he turns to books. The books whisper to him and eventually lead him to a secret passageway into a fantasy land complete with princes and kings and big bad wolves.


This was definitely more of a dark fairy tale -- not really for kids. If you prefer Grimm's version over the Disney version of fairy tales, you'd probably enjoy this book. Plus, if you were ever that kid who used books as an escape, David will really resonate with you and take you back to a time when books really came alive.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (CBR-III #48)

Cannonball Read III: Book #48/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 352 (189,097 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian

First of all, the cover for this book is terrible. I never would have picked it out if I didn't read a review without the cover picture in it. It looks like some horrible YA supernatural romance with wolves or something. It takes place in a grungy, dystopian society so I have no idea why she's wearing this sparkly white ball gown on the book cover.

The book starts with Juliette being locked in some sort of filthy jail. We find out that she was locked away by her parents after they discovered she was a "monster" because her touch can kill people. She's been in isolation for a couple of years, when suddenly she gets a new cellmate. A BOY cellmate. (possible spoilers ahead...) Turns out, he's just there to capture and deliver her to this creep in the Reestablishment military who wants to use her as a weapon. She falls in love with the boy who manipulated her (Adam) and they run away until they find a school for freaks just like her (end spoilers). Hm...where have I heard this plot before?? 

Basically, I hope they never make a movie out of this because whoever owns the rights to X-Men will sue their butts off. Juliette is pretty much Rogue. Or they could just rename the story X-Men Origins: Rogue for the movie version. It would appeal to comic geeks AND 13-year-old girls.

It was way too fluffy for me. The story was actually pretty interesting. However, the romance was front and center and in your face. You know, they're SUPER in love five minutes after they meet and I have to suffer through endless paragraphs of mush. Someone likes their metaphors a little too much, I think. It was kind of like Twilight, if Stephenie Meyer could write. I think Tahereh Mafi is a good writer if she toned down the madly in love teenager fluff a little. I don't need to read three thousand metaphors about Juliette's heart and what it feels like. The action parts of the book were really good. 

My favorite character in the whole book was Adam's 10-year-old brother. I LOVED HIM. So I know Mafi can write good characters. I just wish she put a little more effort into the main characters personalities rather than their sexual urges. 

I'm not sure if I'll continue with this series though. It was pretty good if I skimmed over the softcore teenage porn, so we'll see. 

The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler (CBR-III #47)

Cannonball Read III: Book #47/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 356 (18,745 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult

It's 1996 and the Internet is new (remember that??). Do you also remember those AOL cds that everyone had at least 50 of? They made great coasters. Anyways, Emma gets this newfangled Internet thing at her house and pops in her free AOL cd. What does he find? Facebook. Actually, Facebook fifteen years in the future. She shows her neighbor (and former best friend -- they had a falling out after he professed his love to her and she didn't reciprocate the feelings), Josh. Together, they realize that they can find out what their future selves are up to and that they can alter the future by their current actions. Josh doesn't want things to change because he's married to the local "hot, rich girl". Emma, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have such a great future no matter how much she changes it.

This was a pretty fun read. I was eleven in 1996, so I remember most of what they were talking about. Sometimes the mid-90s referenced almost felt a little TOO forced (Really? You're wearing your Doc Martens with a floral dress? How 90s of you!). It's like they threw a bunch of stuff in there out of nowhere just to say HEY IT'S 1996, REMEMBER??? But if was fun if you remember those days. 

The names were very authentic to the time too. They even mentioned a guy who went to their school that had the exact same first and last name as a guy I was friends with in high school. I sometimes hate reading books where the main characters are in high school and have names like "Catcher" or even "Katniss" (which always made me think of catnip). I guess those "future" names...but geez. Everyone in the 90s went to school with an Emma or a Josh. BUT, Emma's last name was Nelson. If you've ever watched Degrassi, you'll know that a very main character for most of the show was named Emma Nelson. So throughout the whole book I kept picturing her as Degrassi Emma and her best friend was Manny in my head. You'd think the author would have at least Googled the character name to see if it was a fairly well-known name or not.

Overall, I liked the book though. The characters probably weren't as fleshed out as they should have been, but I'm just happy that there wasn't this huge love triangle story arc and the "romance" between Emma and Josh was kept to a minimum for a YA book. All the 90s references were fun to catch too.

Matched by Ally Condie (CBR-III #46)

Cannonball Read III: Book #46/52
Published: 2010
Pages: 384 (18,389 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian

Cassia lives in a future society where the government makes all your decision for you - what you eat, what you wear, your job assignment, and your match. Teenagers can choose to get "matched" when they turn 17 (or choose to be a "single"). Those who choose to be matched have a matching ceremony where they are shown who they will be matched to. Normally they are matched with someone from another province, but somehow Cassia ends up matched with her best friend Xander. Things start to fall apart when she loads her microchip card with her match's information and she sees another person on it besides Xander - Ky Markham, a strange, quiet boy who is also from Cassia's neighborhood.

I was kind of disappointed in this book. While the premise was intriguing, the book was somewhat boring. Nothing really happens besides Cassia whining about whether she is in love with Xander or Ky. The whole Ky thing was really out of nowhere too. She sees his face on her match card and all of sudden they're in love? They used to swim together when they were kids, but other than that they didn't really know each other. They start talking when they both join the same summer leisure activity (hiking), but it seems so forced. She's already halfway in love with him before they even speak.

It wasn't even so much a love triangle at all. Cassia decides she's in love with Ky, even though she is matched to Xander. Poor Xander is in the friend zone and can't really do much about it. While I think it's very logical that a teenager girl might fall in love with someone other than who the government matches her with, I just think they could have found something a little more convincing. It probably would have made MORE sense if Cassia was originally matched with Ky, but was in love with her best friend Xander (but then she started falling for Ky). Why am I trying to make sense out of a YA love triangle again?

Anyways, I was looking for a little less teenage angst and a little more action. I'm still debating if I want to read the sequel. It's supposed to be a trilogy, but the third book hasn't been released yet. The end did sound sort of promising that the second book might have a little more action.

Offspring by Jack Ketchum (CBR-III #45)

Cannonball Read III: Book #45/52
Published: 2006
Pages: 336 (18,005 total pages so far)
Genre: Horror

Offspring is the sequel to Off Season, which I just reviewed. It was published 26 years after the first book and you can tell that Ketchum's writing has gotten a little more polished since 1980. Other than that, it's pretty much the same book.

It follows the same classic horror novel plot as the original: A group of crazy, inbred cave dwellers hunt and torture a bunch of people in Maine. One of the cave dweller kids from the original book survived the massacre that took place at the end and ran. Over the years, she hunted up and down the coast of Maine/Canada and stole a couple of kids along the way to grow the family back. Now they're back in their original territory and pick a new family to hunt. The police also bring back retired Detective Peters who worked on the original case.

Overall, I liked this book. It was a very similar formula to the original, but it's a classic formula that works. I liked how they tied the two books together with Detective Peters coming back and the kid who we didn't know survived the massacre trying to start a new family. It's a quick read and worth it if you're into the genre.

Off Season by Jack Ketchum (CBR-III #44)

Cannonball Read III: Book #44/52
Published: 1980
Pages: 308 (17,669 total pages so far)
Genre: Horror

Carla rents a cabin up in the woods of Maine to work on her novel in peace. She decides to invite her sister and some friends up for a visit. Then things get ugly. Apparently a clan of cave-dwelling cannibals live nearby and target the cabin that our group is staying in. It's a pretty basic horror plot, but it's very effective here.

The story opens up with a bunch of kids chasing a terrified woman and hitting her with sticks while laughing. It's disturbing and really sets the tone for the rest of the novel. Not only are there crazy mountain men and women out there, these kids are vicious.

The one problem I had was that the main characters weren't very fleshed out. It found it hard to tell them apart and didn't really care about them. It's hard to root for someone to live when you barely know their name. Also, a few things really dated the novel such as one character reminiscing about fighting in Vietnam, but that's sort of expected since it was published in 1980.

Overall, this book was a good, quick read. It's a classic horror tale with plenty of blood and guts thrown in.

Cruise Confidential by Brian David Bruns (CBR-III #43)

Cannonball Read III: Book #43/52
Published: 2008
Pages: 384 (17,361 total pages so far)
Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir

I love cruises. So when I saw this Kindle book for $2.99, I figured it would be worth a read. Plus I spent Thanksgiving in Florida with family, so I wanted something light and easy to read by the pool. Well, it was definitely light reading, but not really what I was expecting.

The full title of this book is "Cruise Confidential: A Hit Below the Waterling: Where the Crew Lives, Eats, Wars, and Parties. One Crazy Year Working on Cruise Ships." Uh...yeah. Longest title ever. Basically, Brian fell in love with a gorgeous Romanian who works on a cruise ship. Naturally, he decides to follow her and get a job with Carnival Cruises. The only problem is that no American has ever lasted a full contract in the dining room of a Carnival ship. The book follows Brian's quest to become the first.

I always wondered why Americans never work on cruise shops. Now I know. It's HARD - long hours, tiny living quarters, weird roommates - just to name a few. Americans don't exactly have the highest work ethic in the world, hence mostly foreigners working on cruise ships. I found that aspect of the book interesting. I like seeing what the living quarters were like, what they thought of the passengers, and stuff like that. Unfortunately, those parts are few and far between.

Most of the book is a platform for Brian to brag about how many hot women he has to beat off with a stick and to rate every women her meets by her physical attributes. It gets annoying really fast. You know how everyone in their 20s has that one friend who constantly stories about crazy times when they're drunk and it's not really interesting unless you were there an/or also drunk? Yeah, this is that friend if they wrote a book. It's page after page of drunk exploits that you probably had to be there to enjoy. A few stories would have been okay, but most of the book was this crap.

Overall, I didn't really like it. I really wanted to read more about crazy guest stories and things like that. I also didn't like how it just abruptly ended. Brian does finish his contract with Carnival (the first American ever!) though. He starts working towards a job as an art auctioneer with Carnival, but the book just sort of ends there. We don't really find out what happens between him and his girlfriend either, with is what a good chunk of the book is about!

Church of Lies by Flora Jessop (CBR-III #42)

Cannonball Read III: Book #42/52
Published: 2009
Pages: 320 (16,977 total pages so far)
Genre: Nonfiction

This is one of several books I've read about the FLDS (a fundamentalist Mormon sect) but it's by far the most horrifying. Not only are most of these women married off at a very young age to be one of multiple wives, but apparently abuse runs rampant in these communities. Flora Jessop tells her story about how she was raped and abused as a child before she had enough and ran away as a teen.

The abuse in this book is so horrific, you almost feel like you're reading fiction. Flora was strong enough to realize that she needed to get out, but unfortunately a lot of women don't realize that there are other options. There's also not a lot of help. When she told the police about her father molesting her, they sent her back home. Realizing that the law wasn't going to help her, now Flora spends her life trying to help other girls and women to escape.

The FLDS compounds are scary. I can't even imagine being born into a community like that and it being all you've ever known. They are taught that the outside world is evil, so most women are even more afraid of leaving than staying. I think it's brave of these women to write their stories when they're losing their entire families by leaving the religion and going public. Hopefully their bravery can save more women from this lifestyle.

Overall, the book was good. It wasn't the most well written book, but Flora Jessop isn't a professional writer. She tells her story effectively and leaves an impact on the reader. I would definitely recommend this book if you're interested in polygamy and the FLDS.

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson (CBR-III #41)

Cannonball Read III: Book #41/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 304 (16,657 total pages so far)
Genre: Scifi

I didn't really expect much from this book. I figured it would be kind of cheesy and reminiscent of Terminator. Add a little bit of Transformers into the mix and I wasn't exactly wrong. However, I did enjoy it much more than I thought I would.

The story takes place sometime in the future where robots and computers are even more commonplace than they are now. Most houses have domestic robots that can wander around the cities and run errands. Then a scientist creates a computer program named Archos who becomes too intelligent and eventually programs all of the robots in the world to turn on humans. The book spans over 2 years showing how the humans fight this war against machine.

This book was definitely heavy on action and light on character development, but I wasn't expecting an intelligent piece of classic literature with a title like Robopocalypse. It's written in a "found footage" type of narrative. Chapters are transcriptions from security cameras and interviews or copies of various documents.

It's a good, quick read for a rainy day if you're interested in the genre. I heard it's going to be turned into a movie even though it was just published this past summer. It might be worth watching.

The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan (CBR-III #40)

Cannonball Read III: Book #40/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 352 (16,353 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult/Zombie

Previous books in this series:

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

The Dead-Tossed Waves

***Possible spoilers if you haven't read the first two books***

This is the third book in this teen zombie trilogy. I normally don't care for zombie stories, so I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed these books. I think they actually progressively got better too. In this third book, we follow Annah, Gabry's long-lost twin from the last book. She and Gabry got separated in the Forest of Hands and Teeth as children and Annah ended up scraping by in the Dark City with Elias (also from the last book).

They also really amped it up with a love QUADRANGLE instead of the love triangles we found in the first two books. It's also vaguely annoying and full of teen angst, but the story and plot are good enough to make up for it. Early in the book, Annah reunites with her twin as well as Catcher and Elias just as the Dark City is infiltrated by a massive hourde of the undead.

I thought this book did a great job of tying together the trilogy. I actually think it was my favorite of the three. There seems to be less teenage love drama and more suspense and action in each book. I also like how each book took place in a totally different environment, but still tied together key characters. It kept the series from getting too monotonous. Overall, a good read.

The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (CBR-III #39)

Cannonball Read III: Book #39/52
Published: 2010
Pages: 416 (16,001 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult/Zombie

Previous books in this series:

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

***Possible spoilers if you haven't read the first book***

This is more of a companion novel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth than an outright sequel. It follows Gabry, the daughter of the heroine from the first novel (Mary). In the last book, Mary made it to the ocean after travelling on the mysterious paths through the forest full of the undead. We find out here that she ended up staying in the oceanside village of Vista and now lives in and runs the lighthouse and kills the Unconsecrated (or Mudos, as they're called in Vista) as they wash up on the beach during high tide.

Her daughter Gabry is a teenager who is terrified of ever leaving the fenced in city. However, most teenagers are dumb and easily swayed by boys so she gets talked into sneaking out one night with her friends by Catcher. Catcher (dumb as his name may be) is Gabry's best friend's brother. He's Boy #1 in our required YA novel love triangle. The sneaking out plan goes awry and several of the teens get bitten by Mudos, including Catcher. Gabry ends up escaping.

A few days later, Gabry ends up sneaking back outside the gates to find Catcher, hoping that he didn't actually get bitten and escaped. During this outing, she meets Boy #2 in our love triangle, Elias. Of course he's mysterious and sexy, blah blah.

I actually did like this book, although I could have did without the nauseating love drama. It was pretty bad. This is an actual quote from the book: "His words explode inside me, touching fire along my veins and spiraling into my heart." Ugh. We're bordering on Twilight territory here. I just think these books are better than that -- like they were going for The Hunger Games and the editor told them to just add a little more Stephenie Meyer to appeal to the pre-teens.

I loved how they tied this trilogy together. Instead of being just continuations of the previous books, they follow different characters who have tie-ins to previous characters. The third book in the trilogy is the same way and looks really promising. I think that also helps me stomach the love triangle when I don't have to read about it for three straight books.

Overall, the story is really great if you overlook the teenage romance parts. It moves quickly and the action starts right from the beginning. I love the mystery and the tension in these books and will definitely be picking up the third in the series.

The Death Cure by James Dashner (CBR-III #38)

Cannonball Read III: Book #38/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 256 (15,585 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

***This is the third book in a trilogy. There could possibly be spoilers if you haven't read the first two books.***

Previous reviews in this series:

The Maze Runner

The Scorch Trials

If you've read my previous reviews on this series, you know I have a love/hate relationship with these books. To sum it up quickly, I am completely enthralled by the mystery and the plot but I really hate the execution of the writing. My previous reviews (linked above) go more in depth with my thoughts so I'm not going to rehash it all here.

The basic plot follows a group of kids who were put into a mysterious maze in the first book. After they figure out how to escape, they go through the second faze if the government trials in The Scorch Trials. There they find out that most of the world is falling apart due to a virus called "The Flare" and they were part of an experiment being conducted by a group called WICKED to find a cure. In this final book of the trilogy, the group of kids escape from the WICKED compound and try and stop them from continuing their "trials".

The characters were still kind of blah. After reading all three books, I should know these characters pretty well. However, I was still struggling to remember who was who and who did what. Occasionally someone will die and you have to think for a second who that person actually was.

I'm not even going to get into how irritating I find their made up, slang curse words again. It's just annoying. Thankfully, it was slightly toned down from the first two books.

As for the ending, I knew all along I was probably going to be disappointed. I did like how they made a full circle and had to go back to the maze towards the end, but that part was kind of rushed. Actually, the whole ending seemed sort of rushed, like it was thrown together at the last minute.

As much as I am intrigued by the plot of these books, it's really confusing. I never did figure out how exactly they're going to find a cure for a deadly disease by putting a bunch of teenagers through life threatening and horrible situations. A lot of things were never really fully explained or were explained horribly - such as whether or not Thomas should get his memory back. Did it really matter if he did or didn't? They made an awful big deal about it, but it seems like it didn't really effect anything in the long run.

I know I like to complain about these books, yet I keep reading them. I really do like the plot lines and the books move very quickly. There are more twists and turns than in any book I've ever read. It's really hard to put this book down once you start. I can't quite explain why, but as irritated as I might get at this series, I constantly need to know what happens next.

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk (CBR-III #37)

Cannonball Read III: Book #37/52
Published: 1999
Pages: 304 (15,329 total pages so far)
Genre: Fiction

Invisible Monsters is narrated by a nameless, faceless (literally) ex-model who lost most of her face in a freak accident. She's telling us the story of her friend Brandy Alexander and how their lives became intertwined. You can't really give much plot without ruining the story since you gradually start understanding more and more with each chapter. The whole story comes together like a puzzle at the end.

I was kind of annoyed at times because most of the time you have no idea what's going on until it is explained later on. It jumps back and forth through time and can get really confusing. Thankfully, it's a short novel with very few characters, so it's fairly easy to piece together the story by the end. The end is worth it though when you finally realize how everything fits together.

I love Palahniuk and will definitely be reading and reviewing some of his other books in the future.

I love Palahniuk and will definitely be reading and reviewing some of his other books in the future.

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins (CBR-III #36)

Cannonball Read III: Book #36/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 533 (15,025 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult

I love Ellen Hopkins. Her books are like every episode of Degrassi rolled into a novel. If you're not familiar with Degrassi, it's a Canadian teen soap opera that covers every major teen issue under the sun. Seriously, the teens in these books have more issues than anyone I've ever met. Makes for good reading though since I've read every single book Ellen Hopkins has written.

Perfect is a companion novel to Hopkin's book Impulse. However, it can easily be read on it's own. The book follows four teens who all have issues. Cara is coming to terms with breaking up with her boyfriend and realizing she's a lesbian. Her ex-boyfriend, Sean, tries to win her back by any means necessary. Oh, and he's also on steroids. Kendra is an anorexic model. Andre is dealing with his alcoholic girlfriend (Kendra's sister), her racist father, and the fact that he wants to be a dancer instead of following his parent's dreams for him.

This book was a little slower paced than most of the other Hopkins books I've read. It was a little heavier on the teenage angst and a little lighter on the drama until the end. Then things got much better and more drama-filled.

If you've never read anything by Ellen Hopkins, I'd recommend trying one of her other books first. Try Crank or Burned.

Blood Mountain by J.T. Warren (CBR-III #35)

Cannonball Read III: Book #35/52
Published: 2011
Pages: n/a - (Kindle book - couldn't find pages)
Genre: Horror

I bought this book for two reasons. One, it was cheap ($2.99). Two, it was described as "for fans of Jack Ketchum and Jack Kilborn". I love Ketchum and Kilborn, so I figured it was worth a try.

Blood Mountain follows a recent college graduate named Mercy as she and her father try to bond on a hiking trip up Blood Mountain. Unfortunately for them, a crazy guy named Victor has been stalking Mercy and follows them up the mountain. Sounds interesting, right?

Well, it could have been better. It wasn't awful, but it definitely wasn't up to par with Ketchum or Konrath. Mercy wasn't likable at all until the end. She loves to read serial killer novels and sympathize with the victims. She is a completely pathetic heroine who mopes around and constructs fantasies about every young male who comes across her path. This is probably more of a personal opinion than a criticism of the author, but I want a horror novel heroine who is strong and independent - not Bella from Twilight.

Victor was kind of an irritating character too. He was very cliche at times and I kind of wish they just left out the whole weird, pseudo-religious "cleansing the world" stuff.

With that said, the book was a very quick read. It moved at a fast pace and I didn't get bored - just mildly irritated at the characters sometimes. Mercy also redeems herself towards the end and becomes a character you actually want to root for. All in all, it's worth $2.99 for a quick, trashy read. I wouldn't pay $9.99 for it though.

Serial Killers Uncut by Blake Crouch and J.A. Konrath (CBR-III # 33/34)

Cannonball Read III: Book #33 & 34/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 600 (14,481 total pages so far)
Genre: Horror

I'm going to count this as two books since it's described as a "double novel" and includes two previously published books (Serial Uncut and Killers Uncut), along with a bunch of novellas and short stories by the same authors as a compilation. This book basically includes every Konrath and Crouch character written so far and strings their stories together chronologically.

There are over twenty characters throughout the book who keep running into each other in various stories. Sometimes that got a little confusing, but it helps if you've read any of the author's other books. I've read several, but sometimes the characters got a little fuzzy anyways.

Overall, it's a great book if you're a fan of the genre. It's definitely gory, but not as bad as some of the reviews make it out to be. I've definitely read worse. I'd recommend trying a few other Crouch/Konrath novels first though, or else the story might get a little muddled with all the characters.

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen (CBR-III #32)

Cannonball Read III: Book #32/52
Published: 2010
Pages: 272 (13,881 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult

Eli's dad is a billionaire who spent millions of dollars building an underground bunker for their family to survive in case of a nuclear war. One Eli's 9th birthday, the family is rushed underground after some explosions. Unfortunately, Eli's twin brother and their grandmother get left behind while the rest of the family is locked underground. The plan is to stay 15 years to be sure radiation is gone, but things start to unravel when Eli is 15. His father is seemingly going crazy and the food supply is rapidly dwindling.

I loved, loved this book. It was absolutely everything I want in a YA novel. I'd almost given up on them lately since they all seem to involve supernatural beings and love triangles, but this book didn't even have a love interest (which is good, I guess, considering all the characters are immediate family members). The story completely relies on suspense and it definitely delivers.

There are so many twists and turns in this book, that I can't say much without spoiling anything. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a good YA book that will still interest an adult.

Wake by Lisa McMann (CBR-III #31)

Cannonball Read III: Book #31/52
Published: 2008
Pages: 224 (13,609 total pages so far)
Genre: YA/Supernatural

Janie can see other people's dreams. That's pretty much the plot. If she's in the same room as someone dreaming, she kind of blacks out and enters enter their dream. This makes sleepovers kind of hard.

I wasn't a huge fan of this book. The premise sounded promising, but ultimately it let me down. It just wasn't interesting enough. Most of the book was the same thing: Someone falls asleep, Janie sees their dream, blah, blah, repeat.

They did throw in a love interest, which wasn't actually that nauseating for a YA novel. It was a little over dramatic (pretty accurate for most teens though), but luckily the most annoying thing about Cabel was his name.

**SPOILER**

The ending was eye-roll inducing too. Cabel is actually working undercover with the cops and they want Janie to use her dream watching skills to help them apprehend criminals. I have a HUGE problem with this.

First of all, who the heck dreams real life past events? I sure don't. Even if someone does, how can you use that as police evidence? How do they know what is fact and what is simply your brain making up stuff?

**END SPOILER**

The dreams really annoyed me. Apparently, everyone dreams every time they fall asleep. Personally, I dream a LOT, but not every time I sleep. Also, I know you have to enter into REM sleep to dream, which takes a little while. These kids are falling asleep in class and within seconds are dreaming. I was practically a professional at sleeping through high school, and I rarely dreamed there because you only get 15 minutes or so of sleep at a time and it's not a deep sleep.

Like I mentioned in the spoiler paragraph (this itself isn't a spoiler), they all also dream real life past events. EVERY TIME. I don't think I've ever dreamed real events that happened, unless they were drastically changed to be all weird and dream-like.

For instance, once I was mad at this guy so I dreamed that he turned into a baby tiger and I stomped on him. Yeah, no one dreams like that in this book. It's all straight-up, factual history dreams.

Also, the book was very choppy with almost all simple sentences or sentence fragments. I don't think I'm going to bother with the other books in this series.

The Passage by Justin Cronin (CBR-III #30)

Cannonball Read III: Book #30/52
Published: 2010
Pages: 784 (13,385 total pages so far)
Genre: Post Apocalyptic

In a post-apocalyptic future, survivors of a government experiment gone awry live their lives in fear of "virals". Virals are pretty much just your average vampire with a more interesting back story. They were created by the government using death row inmates as guinea pigs. Eventually, they escape, multiply, and wipe out most of North America (and possibly the world, but no one knows for sure).

Then we have Amy. She was taken as a little girl and given a new version of the virus (that created the virals). Almost a hundred years later, she shows up at The Colony - a village of surviving humans in California. However, Amy appears to be around fifteen years old, not a hundred. They find an electronic chip in her neck that says to return her to Colorado if she is ever found. So the journey begins (about 2/3rds into this brick of a novel).

I actually really liked this novel. The first and last thirds of the book were amazing. The middle chunk was kind of boring and slow. I think this book could have done with a little more editing, especially since it clocks in at almost 800 pages. I have no problem with long novels, but the length here didn't really seem to add to the story.

For one, the characters should have been much more vivid in my mind than they were. I was more than halfway through the book before I realized that Caleb and Hightop were the same person. Sometimes they referred to him by his nickname and sometimes by his real name. There were also too many love triangles to bother figuring out, especially since you barely knew the people involved. This problem was really bad in the middle when everyone was at The Colony, but by the last third of the book it finally focuses on one main group of characters: the group heading out to Colorado with Amy. You get a much better grasp on these characters once they're all together in a smaller group.

Overall, I definitely think this book is worth checking out if you can make you through the muddled center. The beginning and end more than make up for it.