Friday, June 20, 2014

Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Midsummer Eve's Giveaway Hop! This hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. I am giving away a $15 gift card to the book store of your choice, and a paperback copy of my novel Bronze (The Glister Journals #1). Follow the links below to the other participating blogs.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Reviews for The Glister Journals: Bronze

More Glister Journals info and excerpts at the book's website here: theglisterjournals.com

The Glister Journals: Bronze can be purchased through any bookseller, or purchase now at Amazon.com

Note: All original text and materials by or commissioned by B. B. Shepherd are copyright 2012-2014 to China Blue Publishing.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Review: Mockingjay

Mockingjay

Death. Destruction. Mayhem. Just another day in Panem.

The rebels have taken a stand in every district with the exception of District 2 and the Capital. Katniss is reunited with Gale and her mother and sister in the (literally) underground District 13, but Peeta was not rescued. He is now in the Capital, but he's not the same.

This is the first time in I can't remember how long I felt that I HAD to read the end of a book, just to make sure somebody was okay. And not just "okay" but that the book ended satisfactorily. Now, cheating and reading the end of a book is close to sacrilege to me, like sneaking peeks at presents days before Christmas (no, I never have). I had become so invested in one particular character, however, that if they didn't make it, and if there wasn't closure, I was going to throw the book away. Seriously.

I found Mockingjay much harder to read than the first two books. I believed The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I had a much harder time suspending disbelief for Mockingjay, but I'm not sure why. It felt a little too slow at the beginning, but once Katniss and the others began their forays out into the other districts, it didn't stop. One of the things I found most difficult to read were the continuous deaths.

There was plenty of death in the first two books, of course, but that was mostly individuals during the games. This is brutal war and torture. There is a LOT of violence in this book. It's not that it's too graphic--I didn't find it any more graphic than the others--but it just seemed over the top to me, and at one point Ms. Collins was killing off so many characters that I had a suspicion that EVERYBODY was going to die. It seemed to be heading in that direction. Which is why I had to cheat.

If you loved the first two books (which I did), of course you must read this one. If you struggled through them because of the violence, this one's worse. Was it worth reading? Absolutely, and I'll read the trilogy again. But not for a while. And yes, I'm looking forward to the movie immensely!

I had been holding off writing this review hoping for a real movie trailer, but there is none yet. (I'll come back and add it later.) In the meantime, Radioactive by Imagine Dragons always reminds me of The Hunger Games in general (the lyrics, not the video) so I will leave you with that for now.

And now there's at least a teaser!



Reviews for The Glister Journals: Bronze

More Glister Journals info and excerpts at the book's website here: theglisterjournals.com

The Glister Journals: Bronze can be purchased through any bookseller, or purchase now at Amazon.com

Note: All original text and materials by or commissioned by B. B. Shepherd are copyright 2012-2014 to China Blue Publishing.