*OTS* Mortal Danger (Ann Aguirre)

Welcome to the second installment of Off The Shelf which started a while ago. To be honest, I almost forgot that I had started that idea so I’m bringing it back and am hoping to do this every 3^rd or 4^th review posted. Just as a refresher, Off The Shelf is a series similar to Strawburry17’s show Something New on YouTube. I don’t have any back story as to why I chose this book but instead simply grabbed it off the shelf. Also, just as a side note: my apologies for missing the upload on Monday - things have been a little busy lately but it's here now so let's go!

The book that caught my eye, forcing me to pull it off the shelf, was Mortal Danger by Ann Aguirre. This novel is of a science-fiction, supernatural genre, and had a pretty unique plot idea! The story follows Edie Kramer, a girl trying to make it through the pain and laughs of Blackbriar Academy - that's not an easy task when the end of one school year leaves you doubting if you want to be around anymore. But there was a change during the summer that gave her confidence to walk through the doors for her senior year: that change was Kian. He offers her a deal, one that's impossible to refuse, especially from a figure like him. However, as usual, a deal can not be done without some consequences. Soon Edie finds herself wrapped up in a game of monsters and temptations, and she soon isn't sure who she can trust.

So why did I pick this book off the shelf? There was something about the cover that was intriguing - maybe it was the monochrome colours with the bright red infinity symbol in blood. There is a great deal of symbolism if you want to delve into that side of literature. An infinite symbol signifies being connected with something for life, either by choice or by force. The blood creating the infinity made me feel a drop in my stomach because it appears as though someones life was decided for them; the one tied forever has no choice in the matter - they will bleed trying to break the forever or they will pump blood and live with it.

The characters in the story, Edie and Kian, are both powerhouse figures: their personalities are strong and often collide. But this adds an element to the book that is irresistible! I don't really know how to put into words anything I felt while reading the story. It was fast-paced, heart-pounding, and almost left me light-headed with excitement. I finished the novel in a couple days, and honestly I would have finished sooner had I had a good chunk of time on one day. 

Alternate Book Cover

When I grabbed this book off the shelf, I didn't know anything about the author or that this is part of the Immortal Game series. This is the first book in the trilogy and there is a fourth side novel from Kian's perspective. The second book is Public Enemies and the third book is Infinite Risk, due to release August 2016. The side novel is out now and is titled The Girl in the Gray Sweatshirt.

Overall I would rate Mortal Danger 5/5 because it left me speechless, which makes it really hard to write a review! I look forward to when I get the chance to finish this series because it is absolutely worth my time to wait for that third one to release.

Until next time,
Happy Reading Fellow Bookworms :)

Leave a comment with your thoughts on this story or with a suggestion of another book I should read & review!

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Room (Emma Donoghue)

Welcome back everyone and welcome to November – did anyone else find that the month of October flew by extremely quickly? I blinked and suddenly it was Halloween, leaving me concerned that I didn’t really read any books at all last month! But, I’m glad to see others have been reading because in just 2 weeks, we’ve already gained 100 page views! I am so incredibly grateful for all of the support and I’m glad you take the time to read what I have to say. Now on with another review!

Back in September I read a book called Room by Emma Donoghue which is a book I’m struggling to categorize since I personally found it to be a bit “out of the box” genre-wise. It was a lifestyle genre with an element of mystery and suspense. The book looks through the eyes of three year old Jack and his mother, raising him almost on her own. The small family is far from normal since the two of them only ever see the same four walls of the same one room. They don’t see outside. They don’t smell fresh air. They don’t see any other people except this one guy: Nick. Nick kidnapped the boy’s mother and locked her in his shed where the boy was eventually born. For the mother, she is constantly trying to think of ways to get back home, but for the boy this is home because he doesn’t know any better. Will the two escape the shed of which they’ve been forced to call home? If escaped, how does an isolated child react to the world and a single mother forget the horrors of that room?

The book sounds pretty interesting right? That’s what I thought too until I started reading the book. Though the plot line is unique and intriguing, the writing style is less than ideal: it’s written from the boy’s perspective with the vocabulary and mannerisms of a boy. Inanimate objects are suddenly capitalized and described as real beings; this got old very quickly! I also found the execution of the plot line to be slow and at times quite boring. There was no true build of the story, but instead stayed at very much the same level of intensity throughout the entirety of the novel. The characters within the novel left me feeling disconnected because there wasn’t necessarily any personality traits that stood out that would allow me to “build a bond” with them; I like characters that leave me picturing them clearly and relating them back to people I know in my own life. I just felt that a lot of elements were missed with this one.

Upon doing some research, I discovered that Room is now a movie recently released to theatres on November 6. I personally have no intention of seeing this movie, but I would find it interesting to know if the adaption to film adds the missing elements from the book. If you go see the movie, comment your thoughts on how it was. If you’ve read the book and go see the movie, comment about whether or not they kept the view point and vocabulary of Jack.

Overall I would rate Room 0.5/5 because the vocabulary of Jack’s view point made the book excruciating to read. The story also only had a singular level of intensity with poorly developed characters. As always, my poor rating could be reflective of a personal preference so please feel free to try the novel despite my thoughts and certainly let me know yours!

Until next time,

Happy Reading Fellow Bookworms :)

Leave a comment with your thoughts on this story or with a suggestion of another book I should read & review!

If you would like updates for when a new review is posted, check out the Tumblr page! 

If you would like behind the scenes updates, check out the Facebook page!