Review: Doctor Who: System Wipe by Oli Smith

Posted in Book Reviews by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Doctor Who: System Wipe by Oli Smith

My Rating: 2.5/5 TARDISes

Series: Standalone

Date Published: November 19^th, 2015

Publisher: Penguin Random House UK

Pages: 160 pages

Source: Netgalley

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis: The Doctor finds himself trapped in the virtual world of Parallife. As he tries to save the inhabitants from being destroyed by a deadly virus, Amy and Rory must fight to keep the Doctor’s body in the real world safe from the mysterious entity known as Legacy . . .

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*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

This is a spoiler-free review.

In this story, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory find themselves in 2222 A.D.—the end of the world, or one ending at least. When investigating a sole source of power in a completely empty and decimated Chicago, the Doctor enters and becomes trapped in the virtual world of Parallife. Here, the characters, who have been left behind by their players, have developed minds of their own and created a society. However, their way of life is threatened as a darkness approaches, wiping out everything in its path. Meanwhile, Amy and Rory have to escape destruction themselves, as a horde of robots move in to demolish what is left of the city.

I am rather conflicted in my feelings about this book. The concept for it was so interesting and would have easily made a fantastic episode of the television series. The idea of a virtual world controlled by abandoned characters who have each developed a consciousness holds an incredible amount of potential. Throw in a force that is systematically destroying that world and you have what should be a unique and intense ride.

This was a story that I desperately wanted to love, but I was very dissatisfied with a lot of it. I found this novel was lacking the suspense and intrigue that is characteristic of the Doctor’s adventures. I expected far more excitement than I got, and I ended up disconnecting from the story frequently. There were so many missed opportunities to create apprehension for the reader in both the real and virtual settings, and this caused me to have trouble becoming invested in any of it. I believe that part of it was due to the fact that this is not a full length novel. The concept of this plot is far too massive for the size of the story it was squeezed into.

Another of the main aspects of this novel that I had very mixed feelings about was the character depiction. Due to the length of the story, Smith is not given very much time to get the reader familiar with new characters. Despite this, he manages to create an intriguing and likeable cast that complement the story well. I thought that Blondie was a very good imagining of a video game character come to life. She was relatable because she acted in ways that any gamer would immediately recognize. Daryl was definitely my favorite addition. He was adorable and hilarious and very reminiscent of the type of side character typically seen in episodes of the show.

On the other hand, the depiction of the main trio left me a bit disappointed. I personally did not feel that Smith accurately portrayed these three characters that we all know so well. Something was off about them all the way through. Their actions and dialogue clashed with the personalities of the original television show versions, and that ended up breaking my immersion in the story. The characterization of the Doctor, Amy, and Rory is arguably the most important part of a novel like this, but unfortunately, I thought this was an area that Smith did not succeed in.

The writing itself was another aspect of the story that has caused me to have some mixed feelings. A lot of the writing is strong—Smith’s descriptions are fairly vivid and detailed, at least in the first half. At the start, I had a clear image of both the real and virtual worlds in my mind as I read. I enjoyed a lot of what Smith created, particularly in the world of Parallife.

However, I started to have some difficulty later on in the story. About halfway in, the imagery became a bit muddled for me, and I frequently struggled to make sense of it. This was frustrating, as I found that I could not sufficiently picture anything that was occurring. I also felt as though Smith did not take full advantage of the whole concept of the virtual world—it lacked the intrigue that I expected from it. While he described Parallife well, he did not utilize it to create a solid amount of suspense and tension in the plot.

Despite the negative reaction I had to a number of things in this novel, every once in a while, there was something thrown in that would make me love it. There were moments of great humor that made me laugh out loud. There were references that gamers like myself, especially fans of open world RPGs, could easily connect with and that made my nerdy self very happy. These things really pulled me back in and kept me going to the last pages.

In the end, though the concept for the plot was intriguing, the story as a whole ended up falling a bit flat for me. There were some ideas that I really loved, but the actual execution of those ideas left a lot to be desired. A story as short as this is always going to provide obstacles for the author in terms of building a world and carrying out a storyline, and I definitely think the length is the cause of a number of the issues I had with it. Overall, this was not a terrible book by any means. It could have been better, but even with the problems I had with it, I still found it to be a relatively entertaining read at times.

2.5 TARDISes

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19Jan2016

Top 10 Tuesday – January 19th, 2016

Posted in Top 10 Tuesday by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Happy Tuesday, everyone! It’s time for another Top 10 Tuesday list. This is an original weekly blog meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, there is a new bookish topic for bloggers to create a list about. If you want to know more about Top 10 Tuesday, click here!

This week’s Top 10 Tuesday topic is the top ten books you’ve recently added to your TBR. My pile of owned books is really starting to get quite insane, and my general Goodreads list of books I want to read is just outrageous. And yet, I keep adding new books to both! Since it’s the beginning of a new year, I have just recently added a bunch of books to my already way too large TBR, so this should be an easy topic. 🙂

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster

I have been a major Star Wars fan ever since I was a little kid, and yet somehow, I was completely unaware of the fact that there are novelizations of the films. My dad brought this to my attention the other day, so of course I had to pick one of them up. I figured I would go with The Force Awakens to start off since it’s the most recent film, but I definitely intend to read the others at some point as well!

2. Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney

I discovered this one thanks to Heather over at The Sassy Book Geek. She wrote up a great “if you liked that, try this” post, and recommended this one to fans of the Percy Jackson novels (which I am!). It definitely sounds like my kind of story, plus Heather and I have a very similar taste in books, so I think this will end up being an enjoyable read. I’m hoping to get to this one very soon.

3. Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi

This was a random one that I added recently. A few friends of mine have read and loved this novel, and I have also heard some fantastic reviews of it while watching Booktube. It sounded pretty intriguing, so I figured I’d give it a go at some point. I’ve been interested to dive further into sci-fi, and I think this will prove to be an interesting one.

4. Five-Seven-Five by C.E. Wilson

This novel was brought to my attention by Ashleigh over at A Frolic Through Fiction, who recently read and reviewed it. I had not heard of this one before, but her review really made me intrigued. Judging by the synopsis, it sounds like it is going to be a very unique story, and I’m extremely interested to give it a try and see what it’s all about.

5. The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

As I’ve mentioned, I am a big fan of the Percy Jackson books and Rick Riordan in general, so of course I had to add this to my TBR. I only just the other day discovered that this series was going to be a thing, and I am so excited for it! Along with this, I’ve also just added the other novels in the Magnus Chase series as well, but I figured I would just pick one of his books for this list.

6. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

This is one of the books that I purchased with a gift card from Christmas. I am planning on starting The Raven Cycle this year and I have been collecting the novels. I will probably marathon the series after the final book is released. I’ve also added the final two books in this series to my TBR, but again, I thought I would just keep it to one for the purpose of this list. I’ve always heard nothing but good things about these books, and I’m excited to see what the story is like!

7. Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard

Even though I did not love Red Queen as much as I had hoped I would, I do intend to continue on with these novels for now. I only just recently discovered that there were novellas to go along with the trilogy, so I would like to give these a try. I’m hoping to get to these sometime before I read Glass Sword.

8. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Though I have owned all of the books in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy for a while now, I’ve not actually read a Laini Taylor novel yet. I do intend to fix that this year, and this new novel of hers is one that I would like to get to as well. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about her work and the synopsis of this novel really caught my attention; I can’t wait until this comes out!

9. Saga, Volume 6 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

I’ve talked about my love of the Saga series before, so this should come as no surprise; it’s definitely a given! I absolutely can’t wait to see where this series goes next. This is one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and it appears that it will be coming out right around my birthday, which is extra awesome!

10. Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter

This one is another given. I started reading the Jackaby series last year and have been completely adoring it so far, so of course I am planning to continue on with the novels. I’m eager to get my hands on this one and get back into this world again.

What are some books that you guys have added to your TBRs recently? Let me know in the comments!

-Ariana

16Jan2016

Siblinghood of the World Bloggers Award #1

Posted in Awards by TheQuirkyBookNerd

I was nominated by six wonderful bloggers for the Siblinghood of the World Bloggers award! ❤ Because of this, I’ll be doing this award in two separate posts with a couple sets of questions in each post. Part two will contain questions from Lashaan and Trang, and Kayla.

Thank you to Ashleigh over at A Frolic Through Fiction, Heather over at The Sassy Book Geek, and Loreva over at La Book Dreamer for the nomination. They are all absolutely amazing book bloggers, so please take some time and go check out each of these fantastic blogs! 😀

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The Rules:

-Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog

-Put the award logo on your blog

-Answer the 10 questions sent to you

-Make up 10 new questions for your nominees to answer

-Nominate 10 blogs

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Ashleigh’s Questions:

1. Is there a fictional character you wouldn’t want to meet? Who?

Definitely Umbridge. I absolutely can’t stand her (who can to be honest?)—she’s the worst! I’d never want to meet her.

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2. Do you own any bookish merchandise? (Badges, jewelry, posters etc)

Oh boy, do I ever! I have a To Kill a Mockingbird poster and bag, Harry Potter jewelry (bracelets, necklaces, time-turner earrings, deathly hallows earrings) and a leather Ravenclaw journal, Sherlock Holmes jewelry and book pillow. I also have tons of general bookish gear like t-shirts and mugs. Basically, I have way too much bookish merchandise for my own good!

3. Is there a book/ series you think is overrated?

This is going to be a bit of a controversial answer of course, but I would have to go with the Twilight series. Now I have to say, I think “overrated” might be a bit too strong a term. I am not a fan of the series, but I also don’t fall into the hating on Twilight camp either. It was just not my thing, and I personally ended up feeling that it was over-hyped.

4. If you could travel back in time to any time period, which would you go to?

My favorite periods to learn about have always been the 1920s and the 1940s, so I’d love to travel back to either. I think it would also be interesting to travel back to the Victorian era.

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5. Are there any fictional character names you really love?

Oh, there are plenty! I love the names Atticus Finch and Katniss Everdeen. Pretty much any name out of Game of Thrones is fantastic, particularly Daenerys and Arya. A fictional film character name I love is Rey. And this might be a bit of an obvious choice, but I love the name Sherlock Holmes! There are tons more that I love, but these are a few of my favorites 🙂

6. Are you setting yourself a Goodreads reading challenge for next year? If so, how many books do you hope to read?

I’ve set my challenge this year for 60 books. That was my 2015 goal, but I didn’t end up making it, so I’m really hoping that I can reach it this year.

7. Favourite bookshop?

My favorite physical bookshop is Barnes & Noble. Book Depository has become my favorite online bookshop because I can get all of my favorite editions of books without spending more on shipping than on the actual book itself! 😀

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8. If you could have any character’s clothing style, which character would you choose?

This might be a strange answer because I haven’t actually read this book series yet, but from pictures I’ve seen, I would have to go with Celaena from Throne of Glass.

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9. When you review books, do you write notes while you read it or just think back when writing the review?

Typically, I will just think back on the book when I’m writing my review rather than writing anything down. Occasionally I will take notes if there are really specific points that I want to discuss that I’m afraid I might forget, but usually, I prefer concentrating on reading straight through.

10. How did you get into reading?

Literature has always played an extremely important role in our household, and my parents made reading a part of my life very early on. They constantly encouraged me to read when I was younger, and always made sure I had plenty of good books to choose from—and I ended up completely falling in love.

Heather’s Questions:

1. What is a food that you absolutely will not touch, even if your life depended on it?

This is a tricky one. I have to admit, I can be a pretty picky eater, so there are a number of foods that I don’t like. However, the only thing I can think of that I would not touch even if my life depended on it would be blue cheese. That is the one taste I just could not stand for anything!

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2. If you could meet any author, who would you meet?

There is no way I’m going to be able to narrow this down to just one person! 😀 If it could be any author from throughout history, I’d like to meet Shakespeare, Arthur Conan Doyle, or C.S. Lewis. As for current authors, I’d love to meet Gillian Flynn, J.K. Rowling, Victoria Schwab, or Neil Gaiman.

3. If you could have the next book in any series right now, which would it be (doesn’t necessarily have to be written yet)?

Until recently, I would not have known what to say for this question because I’m not currently reading many series at the moment. However, Heather and I just recently read Vicious by V.E. Schwab together, and now that the sequel has been announced, I am absolutely dying to get it! That’s definitely a book I wish I didn’t have to wait for!

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4. Would you rather go to the library or the bookstore?

I know that for the sake of the free space in my house and my wallet, I should probably say library, but honestly, I’m going to have to go with the bookstore. I do have a lot of extremely fond memories from over the years, particularly from when I was a child, of spending hours at the library and coming home with an ambitiously large stack of books. However, there is nothing quite like picking out books that you are going to use to expand your own personal library, and then seeing them all filling your shelves.

5. Paperback/Hardcover or E-Book?

Paperback/hardcover for sure! E-books have definitely grown on me over the years, especially when it comes to larger books or for traveling purposes. But there is nothing that could ever take the place of the feeling of having actual, physical books in your hands (and sitting on your shelves).

6. New book smell or old book smell?

Hmm…that’s a tricky one. Both are absolutely wonderful! I think I might have to choose new book smell. Though there is something very special about that scent that builds up over years, I think I might slightly prefer the scent of a freshly bound book.

7. Do you like reading classics or new books?

I generally like to read a good mixture of both though I will say, overall, I actually prefer reading classics.

8. If I gave you a bunch of money for books right now, which 4 books would you buy?

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The Enchanted by Renee Denfeld

Soulless by Gail Carriger

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

9. Most anticipated book of 2016?

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This is so difficult! There are so many fantastic-sounding upcoming releases. If I had to choose, however, I think I would have to say that my most anticipated release of 2016 is Heartless by Marissa Meyer. I can’t even begin to explain how eager I am to get my hands on this book!

10. Are there any book-to-movie adaptations you’re anticipating?

Definitely! 2016 is shaping up to be the year of (hopefully awesome) book-to-movie adaptations. The top ones I’m anticipating this year are Fantastic Beasts, Miss Peregrine’s, and A Monster Calls.

Loreva’s Questions

1. Which TV Shows do you watch?

I actually don’t watch a lot of television anymore, and I am absolutely terrible at keeping up with shows. I have an insanely long list of shows that I need to start watching or catch up on. The main shows that I do keep up with (and that are some of my all-time favorites in general) are Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, and Sherlock. I also really enjoy The Middle and Two Broke Girls.

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2. What was the first book you ever read and was it the book that sparked your interest in reading?

I come from a family of book lovers, so books have always played a hugely important part in my life. I can’t specifically remember a lot of the first books I read by myself, but I do distinctly remember reading a book called The Housekeeper’s Dog. I remember being so proud because it was multiple reading levels ahead of where I should have been at my age, and I was so excited that I called my grandma up and read it to her over the phone. All of the books that I read when I was younger fueled my passion for reading, so this one definitely contributed. However, like many other bibliophiles around my age, the main book(s) that sparked my interest in reading was Harry Potter.

3. Which do you prefer: Reading or Writing?

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This is an incredibly difficult choice to make! Though I absolutely adore writing, and I love getting my ideas written down and creating worlds and adventures of my own, I think I would have to say I slightly prefer reading. Reading is something that I can do to relax, to really take a break and escape from reality for a little while. Reading and writing are both incredibly important and essential parts of my life, but reading is my necessary chill out time.

4. Which is your favorite season, reading wise?

My favorite season in general is autumn. The world is so beautiful in autumn—I always feel the most inspired in all aspects of my life, including reading, during these months. Something about that cooler weather makes me want to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea as the leaves fall outside.

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5. What bookish challenges are you going to attempt next year?

At the moment, the main bookish challenge I’ll be attempting is the typical Goodreads challenge, though I might look around for other challenges to try at some point! I’ve also created a few personal challenge lists for myself in blog posts recently: series I want to start, my 2016 book bucket list, and self-published books I want to get to. I’ll be checking on my progress with this lists throughout the year.

6. How do you arrange your bookshelf (color, genre, author etc)?

This is embarrassing to admit, but I don’t actually have any bookshelves at the moment! All of my books currently reside in storage boxes. However, when I get those shelves, I will be arranging my books by author.

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7. What was the last book you read? Did you like it?

The last book I read was Doctor Who: Death Riders by Justin Richards, a sort of mini novel (under 200 pages) that I got from Netgalley. Overall it was a fairly enjoyable read (click here to read my review!). I’ve been reading a few of these for review lately, so the last full novel that I read was Vicious by V.E. Schwab, and that was absolutely incredible!

8. Have you ever been on vacation outside the borders of your continent?

Yes and no. I’ve never been out of the borders of my continent on a true vacation. However, I have traveled outside of the borders for music tours, which are sort of part work and part vacation. So far I’ve only been to Europe, but I have traveled to France, England, Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic!

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9. Are you interested in any musical instruments or sports?

I enjoy watching a number of sports, but I’ve never been too interested in participating in them. The only ones I’ve enjoyed (and been remotely good at) are swimming and tennis. However, I am a musician, so I’ve had a lot of experience with instruments. I am primarily a singer, but I’ve played piano, violin, guitar, and recorder. I am also really hoping to start electric violin sometime in the near future!

10. What is your usual reading time?

I typically read whenever I get a chance throughout the day, and that changes all the time as my schedule is generally pretty unpredictable. So I guess I don’t really have a specific time of day that I usually read. However, I do relatively consistently read before going to sleep, whenever that happens to be! 🙂

I Nominate:

The Orang-utan Librarian

Jessica @ The Awkward Book Blogger

Becca @ Shih Tzu Book Reviews

Liam @ Liam’s Library

T.K. Lawrence @ Read it or Not Reviews

Rachel @ (Bargain)BookBliss

Zezee @ Zezee with Books

Codie @ Reader’s Anonymous

Windie @ Geek Apprentice

Dearna @ The Words of the Roses

Jen @ J.N. Cahill

My Questions:

1. What are some new releases you are most looking forward to in 2016?

2. What is you favorite under-hyped book?

3. What is one thing (activity, song, movie, etc…) that always makes you happy no matter what?

4. Do you prefer series or standalone novels?

5. Do you play video games? If so, what are your favorite games to play?

6. What is your favorite song of all time?

7. If you could have any fictional animal as a pet, what would you choose?

8. What 2016 movies are you most looking forward to seeing?

9. What book or series would you recommend to someone who says they don’t like to read, and why would you choose that book or series?

10. What is your absolute favorite quote?

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13Jan2016

Top 5 Wednesday – January 13th, 2016

Posted in Top 5 Wednesday by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey at Gingerreadslainey. Every week, book reviewers all over the world are given a bookish topic and respond with their top 5 books (or elements of books) that relate to that topic. Click here for the Goodreads group if you would like to learn more about Top 5 Wednesday and join in!

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday topic is your top five favorite self-published books. Now, I’ve not actually read all that many self-published books over the years; my experience in that area is really lacking. I would like to start getting into the habit of reading more of these types of novels this year, and I already have a few picked out that I would like to read soon. So instead of making a list of my favorites, I’ve decided to make a list of the top five self-published books on my TBR that I am most looking forward to reading!

5. Angelfall by Susan Ee

It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco where she’ll risk everything to rescue her sister and he’ll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

4. Callum & Harper by Fisher Amelie

Life sucks for orphans Callum Tate and Harper Bailey.

Kicked out of their foster homes because they suffer the ‘eighteen disease’ with nothing but a hundred dollar check from the government and a pat on the back, they’re forced to rely on a system that failed them miserably.

So they sit. They sit inside Social Services, waiting for their social workers to call their names and offer them the miracle they know will never come but they sit anyway because they have nowhere else to go, no other options on their very literal and figurative empty plates.

But as they sit, they notice the other. Although captivated, they each come to the conclusion that life is complicated enough without throwing in a boiling tension that can’t ever be acted upon because they’re both too busy thinking about where their next meal will come from but when their names are called and both are placed on a year long waiting list for permanent housing, suddenly relying on each other seems like a very viable plan B.

And, oh, how lovely Plan B’s can be.

Well, except for the psycho from Harper’s past that haunts her and, oh, yeah, there’s the little issue that neither of them knows they’re in love with the other.

Needless to say, Callum & Harper’s life just got a bit more complicated.

3. The Reluctant Sacrifice by Kerr-Ann Dempster

Centuries ago, sibling rivalry tore Aramith apart. As punishment, the losers were stripped of their immortal birthright and banished to Earth. There, they wasted away from old age and diseases. However, there is hope…

If a Shaw child, born on the 12th day of the 12th month offers her soul in a public sacrifice, then the exiles will be forgiven and welcomed home to Aramith.

Aubrey Shaw is that child, but dying for the exiles is not on her to-do list. Using her gift as a Jumper, Aubrey leaps between bodies to escape relentless shape-shifting hunters. Only, shedding her skin is not enough. Not when Joshua, her best-friend-turned-hunter, is hell-bent on dragging her to the altar.

Will Aubrey’s love for Joshua change his mind?

Or, will she have to trust the scarred stranger who shows up out of the blue cloaked in lies and secrets? Doing so means giving up on Joshua. But betting on Joshua’s love could do more than break her heart.

It could kill her.

2. The Inn by Deirdre Swinden

The Inn had stood for more than 200 years. No one who knew any better would live within its walls. No one who had heard its sordid past would venture within a mile. But Innkeepers Paula and Martin Kent had found the aging red brick charming and the house itself an alluring investment. After all, what more could a bed and breakfast need for success than to be “haunted”? Its history spoke of deadly winters, lusty rovers and immortal lovers. It called to them as it had sung to others, and at a time when ghost hunters achieved success on reality television, the Kents had found a profitable attraction.

When Samantha Brogan arrives to meet her estranged husband Chris in an attempt to repair their crumbling marriage, she is instantly unsettled by an image her failing sight struggles to comprehend. Trapped by a severe snowstorm, guests and caretakers seek out the Inn’s other inhabitants through ghost hunts and chilling tales of the site’s unnaturally violent history. As the storm gains power, Sam’s visions grow darker and more disturbing. As an unseen enemy draws closer, the guests experience nightmare realities of their deepest fears. One by one they succumb to an inescapable fate until there is only one course left for the remaining occupants – attempt to communicate or die trying.

And death is waiting to take them all.

1. Dissonance by Mariella Hunt

Fifteen-year-old Allie Grant lives crippled by her illness. Though kept in isolation, she’s never alone: A spirit named Song lurks in the silence of her bedroom.

When Song reveals its dark nature on the night of her recital, the show ends in tragedy. Verging on death, Allie’s taken in by an uncle she’s never met.

Julian claims to be a Muse with power over music and answers that’ll heal her. The cure she needs is rare, requiring of him a difficult sacrifice. Allie soon suspects her uncle has a secret that’ll turn her world around.

But with days left to live, she might fade without learning the truth…like the finishing chord of a song.

What are some self-published novels that you have read and enjoyed? I’m always looking for some more recommendations, so definitely let me know in the comments! 🙂

-Ariana

12Jan2016

Top 10 Tuesday – January 12th, 2016

Posted in Top 10 Tuesday by TheQuirkyBookNerd

This week’s Top 10 Tuesday topic is the top ten 2015 releases you meant to get to but didn’t. This is a great topic for me because I have an embarrassingly long list of books to choose from! I ended up not reading nearly as much as I originally intended to in 2015. On top of that, the majority of the books that I did read were releases from recent years that I was trying to catch up on. To narrow my list down, I primarily chose books that I own and that I hope to get around to reading this year. 2016 is definitely going to end up being another catch up year!

1. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

2. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

3. The Singular and Extraordinary Tale of Mirror and Goliath by Ishbelle Bee

4. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

5. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

6. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

7. Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

8. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

9. The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

10. Rook by Sharon Cameron

What 2015 releases did you guys not have a chance to read? Do we have any in common? Let me know in the comments!

-Ariana

10Jan2016

Beautiful Blogger Award

Posted in Awards by TheQuirkyBookNerd

I apologize for the lack of posts and slow comment replies over the last few days. I finally have a working laptop all set up, so things should be picking up and I’ll be getting back to everyone this week!

I was nominated by three lovely ladies for the Beautiful Blogger Award: Heather over at The Sassy Book Geek, Michelle over at Book Adventures, and Kimsiang over at The Spines Breaker. Thank you all so much for the nominations! They are all beautiful bloggers themselves, so please stop by and check out all of their blogs! 🙂

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The Rules:

-Link to the blogger who nominated you

-List seven random facts about you

-Nominate seven creative, beautiful bloggers, and notify them

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Random Facts About Me:

1. I am currently writing my first ever steampunk novel, which I worked on during this past NaNoWriMo. This is definitely turning out to be my favorite story I’ve worked on so far!

2. My next novel is going to be about superheroes and super villains (note everyone’s complete lack of surprise at this fact!) 🙂

3. If I had a superpower, I would want to be able to control objects with my mind. Either that, or I would want the ability to manipulate metals (ferrokinesis); I’ve always thought that was a cool power.

4. I want to get a husky one day and name it either Atticus, Sherlock, or Loki. I definitely also plan on generally having three pets with these names.

5. I am a major Star Wars nerd. I’ve just seen the new Star Wars film (definitely my second or third favorite ❤ ) and I now desperately want one of the actual remote controlled BB-8 droids.

6. I’m not usually a huge fan of pranks or pulling pranks on people, but I absolutely love watching public prank videos. Lately, I have been binge watching Just for Laugh Gags and The Scary Snowman on Youtube! 🙂

7. I may or may not be mildly obsessed with collecting Funko Pop figurines. I currently have a collection of about 18 (18 and a half if you count mini Thor!).

I Nominate:

Umbreen @ Read by Umbreen

Anna @ My Bookish Dream

Emma @ The Terror of Knowing

Cátia @ The Girl Who Read Too Much

Cleo @ Cuddle With Books

Amber @ Only True Magic

Victoria @ Addlepates and Book Nerds

6Jan2016

Review: Doctor Who: Death Riders by Justin Richards

Posted in Book Reviews by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Doctor Who: Death Riders by Justin Richards

My Rating: 3.5/5 TARDISes

Series: Standalone

Date Published: November 19^th, 2015

Publisher: Penguin Random House UK

Pages: 160 pages

Source: Netgalley

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis: The Galactic Fair has arrived on the mining asteroid of Stanalan and anticipation is building around the construction of the fair’s most popular attraction – the Death Ride! But there is something sinister going on behind all the fun of the fair; people are mysteriously dying in the Off-Limits tunnels. Join the Doctor, Amy and Rory as they investigate…

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

____________________________________________________________________

This is a spoiler-free review.

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory land on Stanalan—an asteroid used for mining—which, as they soon find out, contains an entire civilization. The caretaker, Perpetual Pete, who has been there far longer than anyone living on Stanalan can even remember, has marked some of the old mining tunnels as Off-Limits. He claims that they require maintenance, says they are liable to collapse, and forbids anyone from traveling down them. With the arrival of the Galactic Fair and the construction of an attraction called the Death Ride, Pete has his hands full attempting to keep the workers from building parts of the ride’s track in those tunnels. However, people begin to turn up dead in those Off-Limits areas, appearing to have died from something far worse than collapsing walls.

I found the plot to be fairly predictable, but that did not take away from my enjoyment of it. Richards did a wonderful job of building intrigue and tension in the opening chapters of the novel. He unveiled the important details at the right pace to create the tense and mysterious atmosphere that the story required. I do wish there had been a bit more use of the Doctor, but given the length of the story, I thought there was a decent balance in the attention given to each character; each member of the trio contributed an equal amount to the progression of the plot. There were times that the story felt a bit choppy or like it was jumping a bit too quickly over certain aspects, but those sacrifices are to be expected in a shorter novel, and I felt that Richards handled it well.

I definitely felt that the first half of the story was a lot stronger than the second half. The ending was quite clunky and had me shaking my head on numerous occasions. It seemed like it was trying to be fairly typical of a conclusion to an episode of the show. However, they had gotten into such a predicament that there was very little that could be done to avoid a “deus ex machina” sort of situation. Though my suspension of disbelief is pretty good for Doctor Who in general, this ending was maybe just a tiny bit too farfetched even for that.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style quite a bit; it was easy to follow and flowed very nicely. His descriptions were very detailed and clear, and I was easily able to picture all of the settings and characters in my mind. Richards did a great job of building up an image of a bleak world slightly brightened by the presence of this fair. Yet behind that, he creates an underlying sense of tension and mystery, even before the unexplained deaths actually begin to occur.

The only complaint I had in terms of the writing might simply be caused by differences in location and subsequently dialect for me. Throughout the entire story, every single time the word “around” was used, Richards exchanged that with “round”. This is something that I am accustomed to hearing used in speech, so its use in lines of dialogue felt appropriate. Until this novel, however, I have not seen it employed in regular lines of text, such as in descriptions, and it felt quite out of place in those instances. Frankly, the constant substitution began to feel rather repetitive and awkward. As I said though, this may just be a question of dialect and writing style that I am not entirely familiar with given my location compared to the author.

Richards did a solid job of accurately capturing the personalities of the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory. Their deliveries of dialogue as well as their interactions with each other were spot on. This was a short novel, so there was not nearly as much time available for the author to flush out the supporting characters. Richards still managed to do a good job of vividly portraying them and their interactions with the main trio. The fact that he worked everything together so well so quickly served to make the novel feel even more reminiscent of an episode of the show.

The main complaint I had in terms of the characters was that I occasionally felt that Amy was acting out of character, and I found that to be a bit frustrating. There were times when she sounded like herself but felt like a different person. A number of times, I questioned why she was acting in certain ways because those actions did not match the true intelligence of her character. Despite that, the characterization in this novel was truly a high point for me.

Overall, this was a very fun and quick read that definitely did the characters and the television series justice. Like the show itself, there is limited time to develop plot and characters in a story of this length, and I liked how much that made it feel like watching an episode. Despite being out of the target age range and not entirely loving the ending, this was still very satisfying and enjoyable to read. This is a story that Whovians of any age will enjoy.

4Jan2016

16 Books I Want to Read in 2016

Posted in Miscellaneous by TheQuirkyBookNerd

A new year means a time to make resolutions, and for us book lovers, some of those may be bookish resolutions. For me, my TBR pile is beginning to get out of control, so I would like to make a good dent in it this year. There are also many specific books that I am particularly interested to get to, either because they’ve been in my pile for ages or because I intended to read them last year and never got a chance. For these reasons, I’ve decided to make specific lists of both standalones and series that I want to get to in 2016.

I am determined to get to most if not all of these books that I’m listing, so I definitely plan on checking back periodically throughout the year to see what I’ve completed. Essentially, these are my 2016 book bucket lists! I’ve already written a post about series and trilogies that I plan on starting this year, so I’ll keep this list mainly to standalones that I would like read (with a few exceptions). If you want to check out my series and trilogies TBR, click here!

1. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn – My goal is really to read the rest of Gillian Flynn’s books this year (so Sharp Objects as well), but I figured I’d just include one in this list. This is on my January TBR, so I’m hoping that it will be one of my first reads of the year. I can’t wait to dive into another one of her novels, even though I’m going to be sad when I run out of books!

2. More Than This by Patrick Ness – I read A Monster Calls about a year and a half ago now, and it is absolutely insane that I have not read anything else by Patrick Ness yet. On top of starting the Chaos Walking trilogy, I would also really like to read this novel. Patrick Ness’s writing is beautiful and some of the best that I have ever read, so I am incredibly eager to experience more of it.

3. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell – Though I own three, I have not yet read a Rainbow Rowell book. Now, contemporary romance type stories are not usually my thing, but I have heard such fantastic things about her work that I really want to give it a try. The plots for many of her novels also sound more like something I would enjoy than a lot of books usually found in the same genre. I would also like to read Fangirl this year, but I have decided to start out with Carry On, mainly because it sounds the most appealing out of all of her novels to me.

4. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – I have been dying to read this book for a long time, and it has been sitting on my shelf for ages. I am so eager to experience all the epic nerdiness that is this book! Also, I purchased a copy of this for my dad for Christmas, so I’m hoping that we can read it together some time during the year.

5. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien – This was one of the books on my “Books I Can’t Believe I’ve Never Read” list from last year. Embarrassingly enough, I have never read any Tolkien novels; I’ve not even seen any of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit films. This totally hurts my film nerd, book nerd, and general nerd status! I’m planning to finally watch the films this year and, in terms of the novels, I would at least like to start out by reading this one before the end of 2016.

6. Alice by Christina Henry – I purchased a copy of this with a gift card from Christmas and I absolutely can’t wait to read it! If you’ve read my other posts, I’m sure you are already aware of my obsession with retellings/reimaginings. Take that and make it into a dark retelling and add a morally ambiguous villain? Yes please! I’ve already added it to my January TBR, so I’m planning for it to be one of my next reads.

7. This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee – Speaking of retellings, here’s another one! I saw a few reviews for this while browsing blogs and it sounded like my kind of story, so I recently picked up a copy. This book seems particularly interesting because it includes the actual publication of the story that it is a reimagining of (Frankenstein) as a plot point, something that I’ve never personally seen this type of novel do before. I have not heard all that much about it, but everything that I have heard has been very positive, so I’m interested in giving it a try.

8. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – This was the top book on my “Books I Can’t Believe I’ve Never Read” list. The film version of Rebecca is one of my favorite films of all time. I absolutely adore this story, but incredibly enough, I’ve never actually gotten around to reading the novel. I definitely want to fix that this year; I know that I am going to love reading this and experience the story again in a whole new way. And I’ll definitely be using this as an excuse to re-watch the movie for the millionth time!

9. Wool by Hugh Howey – This is one of the exceptions to my list of standalones because it is the first book in a trilogy. My dad got me a copy of this for Christmas, so I didn’t have it yet when I made my series and trilogies list. I must admit, the main thing that originally attracted me to this novel is the fact that it sounds a lot like one of my favorite series of games, the Fallout series. I’ve also heard nothing but fantastic things about this book and the entire trilogy as a whole, so I am very eager to get into this one.

10. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab – This is another exception to the standalone list because it is the only book out so far (though not for long) in the series. Since Vicious ended up being my favorite book of 2015, I am now on a quest to consume every Victoria Schwab book in existence. I hoping to read the sequel, A Gathering of Shadows, this year as well, so I may go ahead and marathon the two after that is released.

11. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes – This is yet another book that was on my “Books I Can’t Believe I’ve Never Read” list. It was always in the list of options for summer reading when I was in school, but I never got around to choosing it. I’ve wanted to read this for ages, so I think it’s about time that I do!

12. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman – Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors of all time, yet I still have a couple of books of his sitting on TBR. I have also not read a novel by him in over a year, something that needs to be fixed at once! This definitely sounds like it is going to be a great one. I am hoping that I can get around to reading The Graveyard Book this year as well, but Neverwhere is my top priority at the moment.

13. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck – Again, another book that was on my “Books I Can’t Believe I’ve Never Read” list. This is also another book I feel like I should have read in school but never did. We actually never ended up reading any Steinbeck at all in school, which, as an avid writer and reader, I definitely need to rectify. My dad, who is a big Steinbeck fan, got a copy of this for me for my birthday, so I really want to give it a read sometime soon.

14. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – This is another exception to the standalones because, as of right now, this is meant to be a duology. I picked up a copy of this right after it was released last year but I never had an opportunity to read it. This sounds like it is going to be a fantastic read; the plot definitely seems right up my alley. I’m hoping to get to this one relatively early on this year because I am far too excited about it to wait any longer!

15. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin – I’ve mentioned many times before that I have been experiencing a massive Game of Thrones addiction these past few months since I started watching the show. Because of this, I have been desperately wanting to read any and all books even remotely related to the series. And, excitingly, I ended up getting a copy of this one for Christmas! I have the main series of novels on my series and trilogies TBR, so I definitely needed to add this one on here.

16. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee – Last but not least, I think that I finally need to give this one a go. I sort of ended up chickening out of it last year. As I’ve said before, I’m sure there is a good chance that it will turn out to be a lot better than I think it is going to be, and I really do want to read it. As long as I keep in mind that this is a first draft of To Kill A Mockingbird and not a sequel, I’m sure I will end up enjoying it.

What are some of the books on your TBR that you particularly want to get to in 2016? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

-Ariana

2Jan2016

January 2016 TBR

Posted in Wrap Ups And TBRs by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic end of 2015 and are having a wonderful start to 2016. It’s time to create the first TBR of the new year, and I am excited to get going on a new reading challenge! This year, I have some standalones and series that I am particularly determined to read, so I’m creating some bookish resolutions lists for myself. I have already posted my series/trilogies TBR (click here to check it out!) and I’ll be posting my standalone list sometime in the next day or so.

I am going to try to read at least one or two books from each list every month, so with those lists in mind, I created my (somewhat tentative) TBR. I am attempting to pull myself out of a slight reading slump, so I don’t want to make a TBR that is too overly ambitious. Many of these are roll overs from other months, so I apologize for the repetitiveness! I probably won’t be able to get to all of these, but they all sound fantastic so I think any of these reads will be a great way to start off 2016!

January TBR

1. Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

This is one of my most anticipated releases of 2016, and it’s coming out in three days! I am so eager to get my hands on this one, and I am definitely hoping to read it before this month is out. There’s no way I can possibly resist any book about time travel!

2. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

This one is rolling over from last month’s TBR. Cinder was one of my favorite reads last year, but I never managed to get around to continuing on with the series before the end of the year. Now that the main books are all out, and with Stars Above coming soon, I really need to finish the rest of these novels. I am completely adoring these stories and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

3. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

I meant to read this back in October and never got a chance to. And now, with the movie coming out this year, it’s become a top priority on my reading list. In fact, I am hoping to read the entire trilogy this year, so I definitely want to get going on it.

4. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

This is another one rolling over from last month’s TBR. Once again, I must continue my quest to read every word ever written by Gillian Flynn. I am trying to pace myself, since there are only two novels left to read, but I can’t wait any longer. I have to read this one soon!

5. Alice by Christina Henry

I blame Heather for this one! She’s gotten me so excited to read this book that I had to include it in my TBR for the month. I have not heard too much about this one, but what I have heard has been spectacular. From what I gather, it’s a very dark reimagining of Alice in Wonderland with a morally ambiguous villain. I think this book was written for me! 🙂

I am also hoping to start reading a few stories out of The Return of Sherlock Holmes over the course of the month.

Read in December

I had a rather unexpectedly slow reading month and, embarrassingly enough, only actually fully completed one book. However, that one book was absolutely incredible; it was definitely my favorite read of the year! And the second book that I started this month is shaping up to be another new favorite of mine as well.

1. Vicious by V.E. Schwab – I read this in an incredibly fun buddy read with Heather from The Sassy Book Geek and absolutely fell in love with it. The writing, the plot, the characters, everything about this book was wonderful. As I said, this ended up being my favorite novel of the year, and having someone to read and discuss it with made it even more enjoyable. I’m so excited that I finally got a chance to read this book; I can’t believe it took me so long to get around to it! Click here to read my review!

2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – I started this toward the end of the month and I’m only just under halfway through it now, so this will technically be one of my first completed books of January. As expected, I am absolutely loving this novel so far, and I am incredibly eager to continue on and finish off the rest of it. This is another novel I’m so glad I’m finally reading, and I can’t believe I didn’t read this sooner!

December Book Haul

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin
Wool by Hugh Howey
Alice by Christina Henry
A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken (Pre-order)

What books are you guys planning on reading to start off the year? Did you get any books or bookish gifts over the holidays? Let me know in the comments!

-Ariana

30Dec2015

Top 5 Wednesday – December 30th, 2015

Posted in Top 5 Wednesday by TheQuirkyBookNerd

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday topic is your top 5 favorite books that you read this year. While I didn’t read nearly as many books as I had hoped that I would, this year was pretty fantastic in terms of quality of books read. It was difficult to narrow this list down to just five, but there were definitely a few novels that particularly stuck out this year. These have not only become some of my top favorite novels of all time, but all of these authors were new to me and are now on my favorite authors list as well!