The Blog has been Moved!

Howdy everyone!

I use to blog with my former email account, so I decided to go back to that one. To make it easier for myself, I've also decided to move this blog over to my other account. You can visit the new site at http://fivelines5.blogspot.com/


Thanks!

K-ON! by kakifly

Pages (Paperback): 128 pages

Publisher: Yen Press

Released: November 30, 2010

Description: In an effort to save their high school's memberless pop music club, four high school girls sign up for the after-school jam session. They may have rescued the club, but it's going to take some work for them to crank out any music. Yui Hirasawa loves pop, but she's never played and instrument or read music before. With the help of the other club members, Yui learns everything she needs to know to become and excellent lead guitar player. But the real test of her rock star potential is yet to come. What will her fellow students say when the pop music club performs at the school festival?!

Review: I've heard a lot about this manga, and anime, but never really took an interest in it. Then, I came across the manga and decided to take a read, just to see what the hoopla was all about. I'm glad I did, because K-ON! takes an incredibly simple concept and makes it charming and fun to read. As you read it, you want to root for the girls to succeed and be friends forever. I enjoyed it.

Grade: 9 lines out of 10

Pet Shop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino

Pages (Paperback): 200 pages for book 1

Publisher: TokyoPop

Released: June 17, 2003

Note: This is a review of the entire series and not just the first volume, even though the information above is for the first book.

Description: A smoke-filled alley in Chinatown harbors Count D's Pet Shop. The pets sold here aren't your everyday variety and the Count prides himself on selling Love and Dreams in the form of magical creatures that come with an exclusive contract. But buyers beware. If the contract is broken the Count cannot be held accountable for whatever may happen. A fascinating and macabre look into the very soul of human nature.

Review: I absolutely loved this manga. The artwork is good. The plot, while sometimes repetitive in the earlier stories, still leaves you wondering what will happen to the owners who break their contract. Count D is clearly the star of the show. He's funny, charming, but cold at the same time. As the series progresses, he does loosen up a bit, thanks to police buddy Leon. I loved it!

Grade: 9.5 lines out of 10

Zombie Britannica by Thomas Emson

Pages (Paperback): 350 pages

Publisher: Snowbooks

Released: August 1, 2010

Description: Cassie's day as a guide at Westminster Abbey begins badly when zombies storm into the building and eat the tourists. Carrie escapes - but finds London choked with the undead. She has no idea where they came from, no idea how to stop them - all she knows is she has to race through dangerous, gore-soaked streets and find her daughter. And her day doesn't get any better...

Review: This is the fourth book I've read by Emson, there werewolves are gone, the vampires have vanished. The big bad supernatural creature haunting the UK are zombies. I do love zombies, but this book lacked the same hard hitting intensity as the previous books. Yes it was graphic and fast paced, but for some reason it didn't translate here as well as it did with his previous books.

Grade: 7 lines out of 10

Read the full review at Books may Vary

Similar Covers

I came across Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum and it reminded me of another book. If you look at the cover, you'll be able to tell too.

I love the blue hues, but when I first saw the cover it reminded me of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

Somewhat similiar, I'm sure I've seen ano ther book that looks like Amaryllis in Blueberry, but at this time I can't remember what the name is. That's going to actually bug me now, because I know the book, but can't remember it. It will come to be eventually though.

Dust City by Robert Paul Weston

Pages (Hardcover): 304 pages

Publisher: Razorbill

Released: September 30, 2010

Description: Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

His son, that's who.

Ever since his father's arrest for the murder of Little Red Riding Hood, teen wolf Henry Whelp has kept a low profile in a Home for Wayward Wolves . . . until a murder at the Home leads Henry to believe his father may have been framed.

Now, with the help of his kleptomaniac roommate, Jack, and a daring she-wolf named Fiona, Henry will have to venture deep into the heart of Dust City: a rundown, gritty metropolis where fairydust is craved by everyone and controlled by a dangerous mob of Water Nixies and their crime boss leader, Skinner.

Can Henry solve the mystery of his family's sinister past? Or, like his father before him, is he destined for life as a big bad wolf?

Review: There are many good things about the novel; the discrimination, the fairy tale elements, and the world. However, there is a problem with pacing. Henry's surroundings moved too quickly and the characters come in and out, which made me not really care for them. I wanted to know more, but due to the pacing, everything felt rushed and once I got into it, the scene changed.

Grade: 5.5 lines out of 10

A big thanks to Penguin Canada for providing me with a review copy of Dust City!

This is incredibly random, but every time I try to type fairy tale it comes out as fairy tail....the manga by Mashima-san.

Read the full review at Books may Vary

Winners of Testimony!

The 5 lucky winners of Testimony by Anita Shreve are:

marjorie
jhs
moridin
sarahem
3 boys and an old lady

An email has been sent, if you don't reply back to me within 48 hours, the prize will go on the next person!

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Pages (Paperback): 304 pages

Publisher: Vintage

Released: March 14, 2006

Description: Kathy, Ruth and Tommy were pupils at Hailsham - an idyllic establishment situated deep in the English countryside. The children there were tenderly sheltered from the outside world, brought up to believe they were special, and that their personal welfare was crucial. But for what reason were they really there? It is only years later that Kathy, now aged 31, finally allows herself to yield to the pull of memory. What unfolds is the haunting story of how Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, slowly come to face the truth about their seemingly happy childhoods - and about their futures. Never Let Me Go is a uniquely moving novel, charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of our lives.

Review: For the most part, this book was enjoyable. I liked learning about Hailsham and what how the kids were growing up. Seeing as it was a very structured but sheltered environment. The reason for Hailsham is known early on and it makes the ending somewhat lackluster during the talk with Miss Emily and Madame. The book is written well, but it was a little too long then it needed to be.

Grade: 6 lines out of 10

The movie, Never Let Me Go, is coming out soon and if you plan on reading the book I would stay away from the trailer. It kind of spoils the entire thing.

Eon by Alison Goodman

Pages (Paperback): 544 pages

Publisher: Firebird; Reprint edition

Released: August 31, 2010

Description: Sixteen-year-old Eon has a dream, and a mission. For years, he's been studying sword-work and magic, toward one end. He and his master hope that he will be chosen as a Dragoneye-an apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune.

But Eon has a dangerous secret. He is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been masquerading as a twelve-year-old boy. Females are forbidden to use Dragon Magic; if anyone discovers she has been hiding in plain sight, her death is assured.

When Eon's secret threatens to come to light, she and her allies are plunged into grave danger and a deadly struggle for the Imperial throne. Eon must find the strength and inner power to battle those who want to take her magic...and her life.

Review: Eon isn't a new story, and yet, the plot, the Asian setting, and the characters were refreshing and fun to read. Eon's struggles were my favourite part, but also the most frustrating. I wanted her to open her eyes, but then again her situation kind of made that hard to do. The book does end in a critical moment, so you'll have to read Eona to find out what happens next. I can't wait!

Grade: 9.5 lines out of 10

Thank you to Penguin Canada for providing this book for review.

Read the full review at Books may Vary

Testimony Giveaway!

~Giveaway is closed~

What do you get when you mix 5 Line Reviews, 5 copies of Testimony by Anita Shreve, and 5 lucky readers? You get my first giveaway hosted here and three 5s. ^_^

Description: At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora's box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voices--those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal--that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment.

Writing with a pace and intensity surpassing even her own greatest work, Anita Shreve delivers in TESTIMONY a gripping emotional drama with the impact of a thriller. No one more compellingly explores the dark impulses that sway the lives of seeming innocents, the needs and fears that drive ordinary men and women into intolerable dilemmas, and the ways in which our best intentions can lead to our worst transgressions.

If you read my review, you'd know that I did enjoy this book, so I hope you guys do too! If you would like a chance to win Testimony by Anita Shreve, then all you have to do is the follow the rules below!

Rules:

1. Giveaway is open to those living in Canada and the US, no P.O. Box address please!
2. Giveaway will end on September 17 11:59pm EST and the winner will be announced the follow day.
3. To enter, please leave your name and email address.
4. For an extra entry, let me know what you'd do if someone caught doing something wrong on tape.


A big thanks to Hachette Books for letting me host this giveaway!