Carole's Review: Time and Regret by MK Tod

Author: MK Tod
Title: Time and Regret
Genre: Historical Fiction and Mystery
Pages: ebook
First Published: August 16th 2016 
Where I Got It: My Shelf (Given to me by the author/publisher for an honest and unbiased review)

When Grace Hansen finds a box belonging to her beloved grandfather, she has no idea it holds the key to his past—and to long-buried family secrets. In the box are his World War I diaries and a cryptic note addressed to her. Determined to solve her grandfather’s puzzle, Grace follows his diary entries across towns and battle sites in northern France, where she becomes increasingly drawn to a charming French man—and suddenly aware that someone is following her…

Through her grandfather’s vivid writing and Grace’s own travels, a picture emerges of a man very unlike the one who raised her: one who watched countless friends and loved ones die horrifically in battle; one who lived a life of regret. But her grandfather wasn’t the only one harboring secrets, and the more Grace learns about her family, the less she thinks she can trust them.




Oooooh WWI. Such a bloody, bloody war. So many people lost their lives! I'm glad this story shared Martin's tale as well Grace's. It showed his journey as well as Grace's. The author did an amazing job with showing the true brutality of the war and the survivor's guilt. Beautiful job.

Normally I prefer one POV over the other, but for this one, I really liked both. Both had me hooked and I couldn't wait for the continuation of both. The author did a good job with the switching between WWI and the 1990s. Kuddos. It can be tough transitioning. 

So many secrets and so many regrets on all sides! Lies, blackmail, secrets, stealing, killing, and so much more! Poor Grace! LOLLL 

Poor Martin. :( He really did have a hard time. However, he was a clever man and taught Grace well on how to decipher the secrets he had. 

Now, the culprit at the end surprised me for sure. Yes, I did suspect that person....but everyone was on my radar. However, as the story progressed I did have my money on someone else. The culprit did make me sad. I really had hoped it wouldn't be that person. Super bummer....but it did make a lot of sense honestly. 

Why was Grandmama/Cynthia was such a B! But I don't understand it fully. Why would Martin stay with her or put up with her being so mean to Grace? You can't help who you love, but he should have put his foot down and told her off. I think she needed a reminder that you can't be a B whenever you wanted. Yes, it did make the story interesting and make it harder for Grace to solve the mystery....but yeah. Not cool. 

My only real complaint was the ending after the reveal and whatnot. It did seem to drag on and on. It felt like it was never going to end and I expected more to be revealed, but nothing was. 

Pierre was meh to me. He was nice and I'm glad Grace found him....but I guess I wasn't taken in by his charm. 

I was utterly hooked from page one. The characters were interesting and I was very involved with both of their stories. I will admit...I teared up a couple of times during Martin's story! THE FEELS DAMMIT! THE FEELS! War is such a nasty, nasty thing especially WWI. WWI was the beginning of the shift of how warfare was done. It was a nasty transition that caused so many people to die on all sides. Super sad. The mystery was good and the culprit surprised me. 

I also LOVE THE COVER! Beautiful. 

In the end, I highly recommend this for everyone. Yes, there is some historical parts involved, but the author does a good job making it feel real and alive. The mystery and finding out all the secrets was for sure good. The ending did drag on a bit, but the rest of the of the story was fun. I shall stamp this with 4 stars. 

Sam Reviews "The Looking Glass" (The Locket #2) by Richard Paul Evans

I did not love this book as much as I loved The Locket.  I felt that it was more of a stand alone book than it was a sequel / prequel, and so I was disappointed it feel second in a series.  I think the story was sweet, well written, and realistic, but it wasn't my preferred story.  I don't typically enjoy historical fiction, which this was, as it was based in the 1850s.  I really love Richard Paul Evans' writing style, and I find his stories entrancing and easy to get through, but I don't see myself rereading this book.  I also don't think it is a necessary addition to it's predecessor.


"I love thee with a love I seemed to lose..."
-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"There are those who find God in the order of the universe - evidenced in elements as small as atomic nuclei to forces as massive as the cosmic energy that holds the galaxies at bay."

"Salvation, spiritual or otherwise, is not a solitary matter and along such journeys there are companions placed along our travels and travails, fellow sojourners who forever alter our paths and sometimes carry us when we are too weary to carry ourselves."

"At times, hearts are the most traitorous of devices.  They tumble headlong and blindly toward obvious dangers while they obstinately protect us from that which would likely do us the most good."

"...it is man's nature to distrust those unlike himself and fear those he does not understand."

"...there are moments in one's life more memorable than entire years.  But these moments are those usually wished forgotten."

"As sure as success will destroy a man, it will just as assuredly be imitated."

"How quickly it is forgotten that Midas's gift was a curse not a blessing."

"I do not wonder at the cruelty of this world,  as it seems the nature of it. I find myself more perplexed at why there is good at all."

"I suppose that my anger is more of habit now than sentiment."

"I believe it is among man's greatest quests of life,  not just to see life as it really is,  but to see his part in it."

"Our false beliefs can be a chain to our souls. Only if we hold on to who we truly are can we be free.  The danger is in the forgetting."

"'We do not see things in this life as they truly are - only as we believe they are.  ...we see through a glass darkly - but no glass is so dark, I think,  as the looking glass through which we view ourselves.  Nowhere does man err so greatly than when he looks to see the reality of who he is.' 

"'And who are we?'
"'We are worthy.   Worthy of life. Worthy of love. Worthy of kindness and gentleness. We are not some mistake of God or nature.'"

"'If i tell you, where will i reside in your heart?'
"'I don't know,  but you must have faith in me'"

"Not all pain was equal. There could,  in fact,  be delicious sorrow."

"The greatest shackles we bear in this life are those forged by our own fears."

"I have made a grave mistake. I have carelessly handled a heart entrusted to mine. And in so doing i have broken both."

Sam Reviews "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson - August 2016

First of all this is one of my alltime favorite books so I was very excited when Donnia picked it.

I found the Platinum Edition of this book at a booksale and there is a foreward by the author that this was a book she didn't even want to write which I think just makes me love it more.

What are your guys' take on the "The First Ten Lies They Tell You In High School"?
1.  We are here to help you.
2. You will have enough time to get to your class before the bell rings.
3.  The dress code will be enforced
4. No smoking is allowed on school grounds
5. Our football team will win the championship this year.
6. We expect more of you here.
7. Guidance counselors are always available to listen.
8. Your schedule was created with your needs in mind.
9. Your locker combination is private.
10. These will be the years you look back on fondly.

"We got to World War I in seventh grade. Who knew there had been a war with the whole world? ... Iraq or Vietnam, one of those TV wars."

I think she made the wrong decision to not explain the situation when Mr. Neck asked her why she was in the hall without a pass.

Whenever I read this book I have to imagine the art class and teacher is choir so I can relate. Because I am no artist, I like words, so all his nonsense about art being your breath and soul doesn't resonate with me.

I really hate when people talk shitty of people for having sex even if they're refering to cheerleaders.  Especially statements like "Group rate abortions before prom".  Sure hate on cheerleaders for their special treatment by the staff, jealousy of their athletic bodies and dating jocks, even their parents assuming they are well off, but leave their sexual choices out of it.

"Linda means pretty in Spanish. They call me Me-no-linda for the rest of the period. This is how terrorists get started."

"She [the librarian] says that Maya Angelou is one of the greatest American writers.  ...  She must be a great writer if the school board is afraid of her."

When Melinda starts crying cuz her parents noticed her drawing more it reminds me of my bitterness that my parents never cared about my writing.

The part where Melinda talks about cutting herself with a paperclip and then her mom's response being "I don't have time for this" reminds me of my pathetic attempt at attention seeking self mutilation.

"He sets the coffee on the top of his car and fumbles in his pocket for the keys.  Very, very adult this, this coffee/car-keys/cut-school guy."

Even though I do find this whole "Let's not talk about things and hope they go away mentality", I will admit that the way Melinda acts around IT is the same way I act when I see Steven Dolliver or Joel Ritchie.

The part where Melinda skips school and jumps on the bus to go to the mall, and she uses the metaphor about "You just expect the mall to be there like milk in the refrigerator."  It's funny how, now reading that as an adult you think "Well if you don't put the milk there it won't just be there."  Also how she's saying she was surprised it was locked, I remember when my mom and I went shopping for my Senior Prom dress we got into Flint at like 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning and almost all of the stores didn't open until 10:00 and my mom was pissed because she hates driving in traffic which is why she had planned to go, shop, and be home before noon.

"...When people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time.  You'd be shocked at how many adults are really dead inside - walking through their days with no idea who they are, just waiting for a heart attack or cancer or a Mack truck to come along and finish the job.  It's the saddest thing I know."

"Seeds are inefficient.  If the seed is planted too deep, it doesn't warm up at the right time.  Plant it too close to the surface and a crow eats it.  Too much rain and the seed molds.  Not enough rain and it never gets started.  Even if it does manage to sprout, it can be choked by weeds, rooted up by a dog, mashed by a soccer ball, or asphyxiated by car exhaust.  It's amazing anything survives."

"...it's ready to flower...this is a bad time to be a rose or a zinnia or a marigold, because people attack with scissors and cut off what's pretty.  But plants are cool.  If the rose is picked, the plant grows another one.  It needs to bloom to produce more seeds."

Thoughts on the Ten More Lies They Tell You In High School:
1.  You will use algebra in your adult lives.
2.  Driving to school is a privilege that can be taken away.
3.  Students must stay on campus for lunch.
4.  The new textbooks will arrive any day now.
5.  Colleges care about more than your SAT scores.
6.  We are enforcing the dress code.
7.  We will figure out how to turn off the heat soon.
8.  Our bus drivers are highly trained professionals.
9.  There is nothing wrong with summer school.
10.  We want to hear what you have to say.

"Sometimes I think high school is just one long hazing activity; if you are tough enough to survive this, they'll let you become an adult.  I hope it's worth it."

Sam Reviews "The Locket" (The Locket #1) by Richard Paul Evans

I loved this story.  First of all, I found myself stopping almost every other page to jot down quotes I want to share (so bear with me for the remainder of this post), which is a great sign of a beautiful story.  Secondly, in addition to being a well thought out set of parallel love stories, there is still an unexpected conflict halfway through.  This review will state I finished the book over the course of three days, but I read the first 25% slowly and finished off the remaining 75% in one night.  I cried for the final two chapters and finished this story saying "But, I want more..." and then pleasantry remembered that there is more to this story!  I cannot wait to start on The Looking Glass.

In addition to the overall greatness of this story, it also touched my heart in a few personal ways, as well.  Firstly, the main character's father was an alcoholic.  My dad was a recovering alcoholic for my entire life.  While my dad may not have succumbed to his addiction, he still had the personality of an addict.  Reading the parts about that the supportive mother/wife, the addict, and the forgiveness was very important tot me.  Also the clear unrequited love story, I am a sucker for stories like that, and this one was especially poignant for me because it made me think of a guy I've never really gotten over.  So because these points stuck out to me, you'll notice a pattern in the quotes I pulled out of the story.

"There are those who maintain that it is a shameful thing for a man to speak of sentiment, and the recounting of a love story must certainly quantify as such.  But if there is virtue in stoicism, I do not see it, and if I haven't  the strength to protest, neither have I the will to conform, so I simply share my story as it is."

"Faye had not yet asked where it was that I was taking her.   Her faith in our journey was not unlike her faith in our courtship,  attributable only to some godlike quality of the female mystique - an unwavering virtue of hope and patience..."

"My mother sacrificed all to protect me from that torment [the demons that haunted my father], to fill her child's heart with hope when her own was broken."

"The instant of my mother's death should have been...something worthy of a woman who suffered life's storms as a shelter for her only child and worried less about her hurt than that I might see her bleed."

"Though my heart ached, I would be lying if I did not admit that there was relief to get the inevitable over with.  Rich and poor did not mix."

"When someone we love is dying,  we do not ask doctors for a price list..."

"...my financial circumstances were the more easily solved of mine and Faye's differences, for all it takes to solve poverty is money.  There were greater deficits left by my father's abandonment.  ...his abandonment was sufficient to take things from me that I could not explain or replace."

"...I knew Faye could not last.  I knew it from the moment we first kissed.  ...  This was landscape I was certain of.  I could see it.  Her father demanded it.  Faye was only a matter of time.  So why, then, didn't she go?"

"Not all heroes are painted on white stallions."

"I liked this man.  He was not so much out of place in these surroundings as they were out of place with him."

"'All women have better taste in clothes than in men. It's easier to pick clothes than men.'
"'The problem with men is that you only get to pick once and then pray he stays in fashion the rest of your life.'"

"That which we expect from life is indeed all that it can ever be."

"There are those who, in the same breath, pray for the poor and for the blessing of never encountering them."

"You're contrary to everything in my life.   You're like a mirage.   It's hard for me to believe that someone as bright and beautiful as you isn't going to disappear when I get near."

"My parents would have me wait until everything in my life is neat and tidy with hospital corners. But life isn't best lived that way. ... I don't want some by-the-book life with neatly penned entrances like it were a Broadway production. I want to live it. For better or worse."

"The greatest acts of altruism have always been performed without audience or plaques."

"I can't decide if I'm protecting her from a more difficult life or protecting myself from when she can't take it anymore and leaves."

"'Do you suppose life gives us second chances?   If we've made a mistake in our lives,  do you think that God or fate gives us a second chance to make it right? '
"'I don't know. But we'd probably just make the same mistake over again.   Maybe I'm wrong. I just don't think I've seen any second chances in my life.' 
"'Perhaps you don't know how to recognize them.'"

"While it may be prudent to not leap until one looks, the longer one stands on the edge of a precipice,  the less likely one is too jump, as one becomes more painfully aware of the length of the fall."

"We are keen at denial, and old age,  like death,  is always someone else's destination."

"'I believe in hell.  And in heaven.  But I think they're the same place.   I believe death wakens us to the consequences of our actions - to feel the sorrow or joy we have caused in our lifetime. The location is irrelevant.'
"'What of the talk of fire and brimstone?'
"'It is figurative. How else could such torment be described?'"

"I believe some things aren't from  this world. It is as if God borrows some souls to share such great gifts."  [Referring to great literature]

"I must remind myself that sunsets too are beautiful,  before they leave you cold,  dark,  and alone."

"A lecture by a philosophy professor proposes that our concept of God is analogous to our perception of our own father."

"'I will never forgive him.'
"'You say that as if forgiveness was a gift you were giving to him.  Your father's dead. What good could forgiveness possibly profit him?   You must forgive him if you are ever to be free of him. We are chained to that which we do not forgive.  Imagine a ship trying to set sail while towing an anchor. Cutting free is not a gift to the anchor. You must release that burden. Not because the anchor is worthy, but because the ship is.'"

"Your father could not control his drinking. He may have been weak,  or chose to give into the weaknesses,  but where did that leave him?  Why did he go to the streets when he could have stayed where he was warm and safe?  As pathetic a man as you think your father was,  he may have been honest enough with himself to know that he was too weak to ever change.  It is possible that your father left to free you and your mother."

"That which we spend our lives hoping for is often no more than another chance to do what we should have done to begin with."

"He spoke profoundly of trivial things which, I suppose,  is better than the inverse."

"Under the moon's glow he somehow looked different to me. Perhaps it is,  has always been,  that the moon gives visage only to that which is already within us."

"...to protect my heart from further disappointment with cynicism ... would be like poisoning oneself to avoid being murdered."

"The jury does not find you innocent,  they find you not guilty. They're not the same thing."

"The greatest tragedy is not to die unknown by strangers, but unloved by our companions"

"We looked at each other like strangers,  unsure of each other's hearts."

"While the life I lead may not match the picture in my head,  perhaps the one offered me is just as full of joy,  its pigments just as bright, just not what I expected."

"It felt wrong that I might open the door and Esther not be there. ... if, perhaps,  trespassing [the room]  would violate the memories that we had shared, rewriting over them  with a hollow,  lonely script."

"God does allow us second chances. But sometimes they're just best given to someone else."

"Shoshone Indians did not bury their dead,  but rather collapsed their homes around them."

Sam Reviews "Desperation" by Stephen King

I really enjoyed this story. I found it to be strangely addicting at times, and would have finished it a week early if I hadn't been overwhelmingly busy with real life things. I did think the heavy God stuff was strange and sometimes overwhelming, but I still loved how everything came together.

**some-what spoilers**

I loved that the scary thing in this story wasn't something science fictional and was something more omnipotent. I think that is why God was such a plot point in this story, because Tak was himself a type of God, or at least something equally stronger than man

Quotes:

"He loved the kid, after all, and love stretched to cover a multitude of oddities.  He had an idea that was one of the things love was for."

"Refusing to see the doctor would not cause any of those diseases to pause in their approach or their feeding upon him, but if he stayed away from the doctors ... he wouldn't have to know.  You didn't have to deal with the monster under the bed or lurking in the corner if you never actually turned on the bedroom lights."

"...they were already friends - the way people can become friends, for a little while, when they happen to meet on American back roads that go through the lonely places."

"Perhaps it would sound nutty if spoken aloud, but inside his head, it seemed perfectly logical."

"Sane men and women don't believe in God. ... You can't say it from the pulpit, because the congregation would run you out of town, but it's the truth. God isn't about reason; God is about faith and belief."

"He really was close to blind in the dark...  Had he really crossed the country on a motorcycle?  If so, God must love him a lot more than she ever would."

"She felt guilty about being hungry when Peter would never eat again, but she supposed the feeling would pass. That was the hell of it..."

"The outsider, the one from the earth...That one spoke in the language of the unformed, from the time before, when all animals except for men and the outsider were one."

"He now believed that one of the scariest lessons this nightmare had to offer was how lethally unprepared for survival they all were. Yet they had survived."

"Maybe he would smell [Tak on his skin] to start with,  but he wouldn't smell it for long. ...stink washed off.  Yes indeed it did.   That was one of the few things in life Johnny was entirely sure of."

"He would see her looking at him as she had always looked at him when he fucked up - patient because Johnny Marinville fucking up was the usual course of things,  disillusioned because she was the only one who kept expecting him to do better."

"Do you know how cruel your God can be?   How fantastically cruel?   Sometimes he makes us live."

Carole Reviews: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Author: Cormac McCarthy
Title: The Road
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Drama, Classic
Pages: ebook
First Published: Janurary 1st, 2006
Where I Got It: Borrowed ebook from my local library

"A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other."






**REVIEW FROM 11/2013**

I technically had to read this for my Contemporary Literature class, but since I had this on my TBR list it seemed like an excellent excuse to put this on the front burner and get it read now. haha. Funny how life works. 

This was super, super dark. Super gloomy and super depressing at parts. I recommend that you need to have a thick skin to read this, because there are a few scenes that are rather disturbing. I love it. Okay, I don't love all the cannibals and the putting infants on a roast spit, but I love how McCarthy didn't shy away from the truth. If there was a huge disaster and 99% of animals and vegetation were destroyed, yes, the people that survived would turn to desperate measures. People would lose all of their humanity and become little better then animals in starvation mode. It's a shitty world and people do shitty things.

Simple truth. Which I'm so glad McCarthy didn't try buttering anything up. However, there is a light of hope in this world. The Boy (and one can argue the Father shows this once in a while) has a golden heart and is filled with goodness. He has hope. I can't spoil the end, but I will say that...there is goodness out in the world. Small as it is, it is there. 

Another good thing about this book, it wasn't long at all. It took me virtually no time to finish (took me a long time to actually sit down and write this review though). I am thankful for McCarthy doing this, because it was a hard book to get done. It was rather simple in writing, it was just emotionally hard to get through from time to time. Just some scenes made me shake my head and have to walk away for a moment. Which...I'm glad the author also included some happy memories and flashbacks, which temporarily added the sun to this ashen world of terribleness. 

In the end, it was a good book. I feel that the movie and this are near equal. Some parts of the movie were better and some parts of the book were better. This may have been a dark novel to read, but if you are an avid (adult) reader I highly suggest this. You may not fall in love with it, I know I didn't, but it really makes you think. I also highly suggest this to those who love the classics. This is a modern day classic and will be remembered throughout literature. Out of five stars I shall give this 4 stars. 

**RE-READ REVIEW:
It was good to reread this. I noticed and connected more dots while reading this. I even felt more sympathy for the Mother. Yes, she is still a selfish bitch to abandon her family, but I understand her more. I wouldn't want to live in this. It was still very dark and it made me want to re-watch the movie. I still will stamp this with 4 stars. It is a good book and I recommend to everyone over the age of 15. LOL

Carole Reviews: Royal Exile by Fiona McIntosh

Author: Fiona McIntosh
Title: Royal Exile (Valisar Trilogy #1)
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 441
First Published: Jan 2008
Where I Got It: My shelf (Dollar Tree)

From out of the East they came riding like a merciless plague—destroying kingdom after kingdom and the sovereigns who had previously mocked the warlord Loethar and his barbarian horde. Now only one land remains unconquered—the largest, richest, and most powerful realm of the Denova Set… 

Penraven.

The Valisar royals of Penraven face certain death, for the savage tyrant Loethar covets what they alone possess: the fabled Valisar Enchantment, an irresistible power to coerce, which will belong to Loethar once every Valisar has been slain. But the last hope of the besieged kingdom is being sent in secret from his doomed home, in the company of a single warrior. The future of Penraven now rests on the shoulders of the young Crown Prince Leonel who, though untried and untested in the ways of war, must survive brutality and treachery in order to claim the Valisar throne.

Looking at all the comments and reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, it seems that you either LOVE this book or you don't. No in between. One of my friends liked the book quite a bit, so I decided to get it and try it. 

Simply...sighs.

The first 60 pages had me hooked. I flew by these pages...but...it lost me. I didn't care and nothing made sense. The plot literally died before my eyes. The story seemed to drag on and on and on and on. I get character building and getting a feel for the world and the situation. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF PIE LETS MOVE IT! It was about page 120 before anything really important happened. Sighs. 

The characters were meh. The baddie was certainly a baddie....I really didn't understand his motives. Yes, power and killing seemed to be all he wanted. Whatever. The King and Queen were weak. Why did they just GIVE up? Where is the fight? FIGHT BACK!!!!!! At least die with dignity and honor. 

There were too many POVs. Once a character died, like the King, the author added another one. It was too much. I was able to keep track who was who and who was talking, but it slowed everything down. She should have stuck with maybe 2 or 3. 

Okay - confession time.....I did not finish this book. I skimmed and skimmed and then I got tired and went to bed. I woke up and looked at it and said I'm done. My first DNF in YEARS. I feel like a quitter, but I couldn't go on. So....a DNF. 

In the end, this was a total failure for me. I tried my darndest to finish, but I got about halfway and threw in the towel. My first DNF in about 6 years. Damn. 

I shall stamp this with 1 star.