[go: up one dir, main page]

Pages

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Book Review: Day of First Sun


Title:  The Day of First Sun
Author:  Sheryl Steines
Pages:  354
Publication Date:  2010
Version:  Paperback (Received free via giveaway on Goodreads.com)
Genre:  Young Adult Fiction/Fantasy

Summary Via Goodreads.com:
"Annie Pearce and Cham Chamsky are tracking the vampire Sturtagaard when they are enlisted by the FBI to solve the murder of Princess Amelie. This isn't an ordinary murder for the Wizard Guards, this is a magical murder of a non-magical princess. They must determine who killed the princess and in the process they learn there was more to her murder than originally thought. As they dig deeper into the mystery they must do so in front of the world while still protecting the secret of who they are and their lives in magic."

My Review:
Annie and Cham are best friends, have been from little on up, they are also coworkers, confidants to each other, and slowly becoming lovers.  They work for the Wizard Guards, a kind of FBI agency for the magical world.  They are called in on a murder of a non-magical princess because it is looking to the FBI agent that there is more to the scene than he can see himself.  Times like that are when he calls in Annie and Cham.  It is up to them to find out who murdered this princess and why she was murdered in the first place.  What or who, was she mixed up with?  There is so much more to this murder as they dig deeper into it.  With so much at stake can they get to the bottom of it all?  Can they prevent the most detrimental event that will have ever happened in the magical or human world?  Can they make sure the magical world stays a secret from the "normal" human world?  Will they survive all the mysteries and the interrogations with such volatile players involved?

 Ok, I have to say the theory behind this book was great.  I loved the thought of magical and non-magical alongside each other.  I loved the murder mystery of it all too, which is what drew me to this book.  It was something I hadn't seen much of before...a murder mystery, yet fantasy and magical too.  I can't honestly say I loved the book, however, I did enjoy it for the most part.  First of all there were things I liked in the book and the writing.  I did enjoy the characters of the book and their dynamics.  I enjoyed watching them develop and I enjoyed seeing Annie and Cham as they realized that their best friendship may be morphing into a bit more than that.  Another upside to the book was the fact that it was pretty descriptive and seemed to have a lot of action/adventure in it all in all.  Some of the comical parts were enough to make you groan, but they also had to make you chuckle because they were so bad.  The story did also seem to plug along for the most part.  The reason I say I didn't love the book was this...at times I felt like it was just a bit too drawn out.  Also, and maybe more so, it could get a bit confusing at times.  I'm not sure if I was just not into it so missed things or if it really bounced around that much.  I just felt that at times I was unsure what I was reading really had to do with anything in the main plot.  Some things were also left unanswered in my mind; made me feel like the book didn't finish some of the things that were talked about or that were brought up.  With such great descriptions for some things, others things/events in the book lacked any description and seemed out of place to me.

 All in all I have to give 4 stars I think.  I was leaning toward 3, but the descriptions, characters, and main plot idea were really great I thought.  So the things I didn't like really weren't detrimental, just annoying.  Also, perhaps it was just not my kind of book or one that I am used to, so that played a role in why I didn't like it...not so much that the book was bad.

 4/5 Stars

The Day of First Sun (Annie Loves Cham, #1)
Posted by at 1 comment:

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

May Wrap Up!!


Beautiful May...the flowers are blooming and the sun is finally out more than not.  The sun is warmer and the outdoors call to me to be out in them instead of hiding inside from them.  :-)

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL MY FOLLOWERS AND THOSE THAT STOP IN TO READ MY BLOG!!!  YOU ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED BY ME EVERY DAY!  


Here's what I have read in May: 5 Grand Total of  Books!!
You can click on the title of the book to get to my review of that book.  :-)

~ 3 Young Adult Fiction:
~The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine
~Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine
~Divergent by Veronica Roth

~ 2 Adult Fiction ( Paranormal Romance/ Mystery/  Fiction):
~Right Click by Lisa Becker
~Glory In Death by J.D. Robb

How are my Challenges looking as we gradually approach the finish line?
You can click on each challenge and you will go to my post for that challenge to see which books counted for each challenge or what each challenge entails.  As I complete challenges I will highlight them!  :-)

1.  Reading Challenge Addict Challenge 2014  Complete 11-15 of my reading challenges that I have signed up to do in 2014.
4/11 Completed
Wrap Up Post:  

2.  Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2014  Read 60 books that are in my TBR pile, but have been there BEFORE 2014.
21/60 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

3.  2014 What An Animal Reading Challenge VII  Read 7-12 books with animals either on the cover, as main characters, or in the title.  
0/12 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

4.  Monthly Key Word Challenge 2014  Read a book with a "key word" from each months list.  
5/12 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

5.  TBR Pile Reading Challenge 2014  Read 50+ books from my TBR pile that were put in that pile BEFORE 2014.
21/55 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

6.  Cruizin' Thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2014  Read 20+ cozy mysteries.
9/25 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

7.  Finishing the Series Reading Challenge 2014  Finish two series.  I am counting by books in series for counts.
4/27 Books Read  0/2 Series Finished
Wrap Up Post:  

8.  Color Coded Reading Challenge 2014  Read books with colors in the title.  9 different colors in a year!
9/9 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  Challenge Complete

9.  Chill Baby Chill Reading Challenge 2014  Read six books in the time frame of December 21, 2013 to March 20, 2014.
6/6 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  Challenge Complete!!

10.  Lucky No. 14 Reading Challenge 2014 Read 14 books from the 14 different categories given.
7/14 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

11.  Foodies Reading Challenge 2014  Read 3 books involving food, fiction or non-fiction.
0/3 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

12.  eBook Reading Challenge 2014  Read 10 eBooks.
10/10 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  Challenge Complete

13.  Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge 2014  Read 1-5 more books than 2013.
0/5 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

14.  Full House Reading Challenge 2014  Read a book from all the "boxes" on the sheet to get a Full House and complete the challenge.  Each box has a different category.
16/25 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

15.  Eclectic Reading Challenge 2014  Read a book from the categories listed to read different books you may not have read.
5/12 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

16.  Reading Outside the Box Reading Challenge 2014  Read books from categories that may be outside your normal reading.  Try to do all the categories listed.
12/25 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

17.  Quirky A to Z Reading Challenge 2014  Read books from the A to Z guidelines given.  A new and exciting spin on just reading books titled from a to z!
17/26 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

18.  I Love Picture Books Reading Challenge 2014  Read 25 picture books in the year!
0/25 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

19.  You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014  Read 150 books in the year.  (Level 2).
24/150 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

20.  Quick Fix Challenge 2014  Read books that are under 300 pages long.  I picked the Gorilla Glue level of 30+ books.
17/35 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

21.  100 Books In A Year Reading Challenge 2014  Read 100 books in a year.
24/100 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

22.  Audiobook Challenge 2014  Listen to audiobooks.  I picked the Newbie level of listening to 1-5 books.
4/5 Books Listened To
Wrap Up Post:  

23.  Jumble Your Genres Reading Challenge 2014  Read a different, set, genre every month.
5/12 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

24.  Dystopia Reading Challenge 2014  Read set number of distopian books in the year.  I chose the Rebel Level, Level 2 of reading 7-12 books.
1/12 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

25.  Rewind Challenge 2014  Read those books you couldn't wait to come out, but then never read.  I chose to try for 15 books.
15/15 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  Challenge Complete

26.  My Kind Of Mystery Reading Challenge 2014  Read mystery books!  I chose level of Lost Artifacts to read 31-40 mystery books.
13/40 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

27.  Freda's Voice 100+ Books Reading Challenge 2014  Read 100+ books in the year.  I am personally shooting for 105.
24/105 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

28.  Gentle Spectrums Challenge 2014  Read 10 books with titles containing color hues.  Read 10 books containing title words fitting in set categories.  
15/20 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

29.  Ethereal Challenge 2014  Read spiritual/paranormal books.  I picked Third Eye Level of 11-20 books.
7/20 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

30.  What's In A Name Reading Challenge 2014  Read a book with a title fitting in each of the name categories.
3/5 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

31.  Audio Book Challenge 2014  Listen to audio books.  I chose the Flirting level of 6 books.
4/6 Books Listened To
Wrap Up Post:  

32.  Book To Movie Challenge 2 2014 Read books that were made into movies, then watch the movie.  I chose the Movie Fan Level of 3 book/movies.
0/3 Books Read/Movies Watched
Wrap Up Post:  

33.  Diversity Reading Challenge 2014 Read books that have a main character or are written by a person of color.  I chose the First Shelf Level of 1-6 Books
0/6 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

34.  Witches and Witchcraft Reading Challenge 2014 Read books that are Witchy.  I chose the Maiden Level of 6-10 Books.
3/10 Books 
Wrap Up Post:  

35.  Shifter Challenge 2014 Read 10 books with a main character that is a Shifter.
1/10 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

36.  Vampire Challenge 2014 Read 10 books with a main character that is a Vampire.
5/10 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

37.  Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge 2014 Read a variety of books that start with all the letters of the alphabet to make up a nice soup of reading.
12/26 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

38.  Where Are You Reading Challenge 2014 Read books set in all of the 50 states!
14/50 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

39.  YA Mythology Reading Challenge 2014 Read 12 YA Mythology books.
7/12 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

40.  Fur and Fangs Reading Challenge 2014 Read books with Werewolves, Shifters, Vampires in.  I am shooting for 25!
4/25 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

41.  Ireland Reading Challenge 2014 Read books set in or about Ireland or that have Irish characters.  I am doing Shamrock Level of 4 books.
0/4 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

42.  Zombie Reading Challenge 2014 Read Zombie books.  I chose Infested Level of 1-3 books.
0/3 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

43.  Women's Murder Club Reading Challenge 2014 Read books in this series.  I chose level Detective in Training 4-6 Books.
0/6 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

44.  Erotic Romance Reading Challenge 2014 Read Erotic Books.  Level One 12 books.
1/12 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

45.  A to Z Mystery Author Challenge 2014 Read Mystery authors from A to Z using last names.
11/26 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

46.  In The Middle Reading Challenge 2014 Read books that are between 300 and 450 pages.  I am doing Cruising through the Pages level of 10 books.
2/10 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

47.  Witch's Reading Challenge 2014 Read books dealing with paranormal or witchcraft.  Initiate Level of 5-10 books.
3/10 Books Read
Wrap Up Post:  

Perpetual:
1.  Stephanie Plum Reading Challenge  Read all the books in this series.
Wrap Up Post:  

2.  Kinsey Millhone Reading Challenge  Read all the books in this series.
Wrap Up Post:   

3.  Read 1 Million Pages Challenge  Read 1 Million Pages.
Wrap Up Post:  
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)