Tag: Book Reviews

All Book Reviews In One Place

“Ghost Tracks: Case Files of Ed & Lorraine Warren” By Cheryl A. Wicks Review

Posted in Book reviewTagged , , Leave a comment

For more than fifty years, Lorraine Warren-a validated clairvoyant-and her husband Ed Warren-a respected demonologist-have been tracking paranormal phenomena around the world. Ghost Tracks pulls together five decades of field research experience, along with historic, scientific, and religious perspectives to reveal that even the paranormal have predictable patterns of behavior. These patterns enable the Warrens to discern what is happening and why. Lectures and selected case studies and letters demonstrate what it is like to live with, investigate, and resolve the mystery of ghosts, poltergeist, and evil infestations. Ghost Tracks has a refreshing style making it an easy read, entertaining as well as informative.

And yet again we are talking about another book coming from the Warrens. But its important to say this book wasn’t written by the Warren but its instead about the cases of the Warrens. It doesn’t talk about all of their cases instead it talks about 9 of the Warrens cases.

This book is on the short side and I’ve read it in 2 days. We get 9 different cases to read about in this book but we also get a introduced to the warrens and they answer questions like who are Ed and Lorraine Warren ? and  How they got into ghost busting ? 

Its important to say that I don’t believe in the things Warrens claims are real but I still like reading their books since I treat them like ghost stories you would see in Hollywood films. 

This book isn’t as much a book as it is a transcript of various Warren lectures they gave in their time. So of course the topics may jump around a lot and switch to different things. So it doesn’t feel as a proper book.

But we also get some short case studies the Warrens had in this book. One of which is the 112 Ocean Avenue which is the The Amityville Murder House which there are countless horror movies and books about but also which the Warrens investigated in their time.

Its important to say that each case study isn’t super long, each case study is around 15 pages long. So we don’t get a lot of insight into them but we get some at the very least.

I found this book to be interesting and enjoyable at times which really made me give this book some extra points here and there. But for the most part this book wasn’t the interesting one. But it had some of those moments.

The writing style in this book aren’t as good as the writing style used by the Warrens in their own books, but its still okay in this book. Even thou I didnt like it was much.

I Give This Book 2 / 5

“A Little Life” By Hanya Yanagihara Review

Posted in Book reviewTagged , , Leave a comment

When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they’re broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their center of gravity.

I didn’t know much about this book other than it being sort of under the LGBT category which I avoid because the book I read in this category I ended up hating in a way. And this book isn’t anything different from the other books in the category which I hated.

The only good thing about this book is the writing style which was pretty gorgeous and I loved it a lot. It really made me think that the author of this book is a really good author solely based on the writing style.

To be very honest in this review, this book was very melodramatic, stereotypical, repetitive, dull, self-indulgent and very unbelievable. And because of this I DNF-ed this book after having read 310 pages of this book.

The beginning of this book was actually interesting because it states with 4 classmates form a small Massachusetts town moving to the big apple (New York City) but then within 2-3 chapters it fast forwards a few decades to when one of those classmates are is well in his 40s I believe and we follow him. Which I found very boring, uninteresting and annoying. Because it went very quickly from being an actually interesting book to being a very boring book.

The characters in the beginning was actually okay characters but when the fast forwards thing happened, the characters become like the watered down versions of themselves which really didn’t have anything in common with their younger selves.

I personally liked the characters at the beginning but after the fast forward I began to hate all those characters I liked at the beginning because they we’re vert melodramatic, stereotypical gay but most importantly very very annoying.

As I’ve said before I read some books in the LGBT category but this one is the most full of the work bull shit I’ve come across so far. Which really helped me to DNF this book so fast. 

And this book had everything which you put under it being Brutal, and of course I am talking about sexual abuse, child abuse, physical abuse, drug addiction, rape, self mutilation, suicide, horrific violence, abduction and amputation. So be warned about those things if you want to read this book.

I Give This Book 1 / 5

“Satan’s Harvest” By Ed Warren & Lorraine Warren Review

Posted in Book reviewTagged , , Leave a comment

The shocking true case of demonic possession from the reporters who first covered it in the Boston Herald. The case was discussed and you can watch the real exorcism footage in the blockbuster horror film The Conjuring. When terrifying, bizarre things kept happening to a hard-working Massachusetts farmer, he did what anyone would do.

This book is the 6th book in the book series of Ed and Lorraine Warren paranormal cases. And I gotta say the more books I read about them and about their cases the more I think that their whole persona of being “ghost hunters” is baloney.

This book contains very few photos of the priest and bishop who worked with the Warrens at some point, Ed and Lorraine at their museum, of the two victims of the “demonic” possession which this book talks about and the house belonging to the victims. But what the photos in this book doesn’t shows are the “paranormal” events taking place according to the Warrens.

If you have watched the The Nun 1 and The Nun 2, then you will know the guy which this book is about. And this guy is of course Frenchie Theriault. And let me tell you that this book is very different than The Nuns movies, since there is no Nun / Valak in this book but rather a unnamed “entity” hunting the shit out of Frenchie Theriault and his close once.

There are a lots of moments while reading this book were I got the impression that Ed and Lorraine were huge jerks. Because the way they said things in this book which really gave me the feeling of them being jerks.

This book is a very short read, my edition of this book has only 301 pages and I read this book in one day. And the way this book is written makes it every easy to read in a day.

Of course the entire book is written from eyewitness personative, in this book we have the statements from the Warrens, the possession victims, neighbors, friends, family and police officers who supposedly saw shit going down hill. 

My main issue with the eyewitnesses presented in this book are that we only hear their stories in this book and there is no video interviews of them and we cant rally hear and see how they tell their stories. We need to relay on what the Warrens tell us in this book. Which really is the main reason why I don’t believe the Warrens cases in this book series 

The writing style is very fun and easy to read. I gotta say that Ed warren is a very good writer because he has the ability to use the correct words to make people the entire book in a very short time. And actually make them interested in finishing the book.

I was interested in what we would read about in this book even thou I don’t believe in the events which allegedly happened in this book or in the other books of the Warrens. 

I still enjoyed this book a little bit so thats why I gave this book some extra points for doing this.

I Give This Book 2 / 5

“The Hobbit” By J.R.R. Tolkien Review

Posted in Book reviewTagged , , Leave a comment

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

I finally got to read this book and I cant tell you how happy I am that I finally read it.

The plot in this book is very very good. And at the same time its very unique. The fact that it was written in the late 1930s and is still relevant in the 2020s really proves how good of writer J.R.R Tolkien really was.

The moment I started reading this book, I was clued to this book but at times I needed to take few days break from this book to process properly what had happened in this book so that I could enjoy this book better.

The plot in this book makes you feel like you are there in the plot and part of everything which is happening in this book. Which really surprised me because I wasn’t expecting this to happen.

There is a lot of action in this book, there are a lot of things going on which will make you sit at the edge of your sit because you get so interested in what is currently happening in this book. 

This book gives you like the huge feeling of connectedness, which I really loved about this book and give this book extra points for.

The characters in this book were very very good, and I loved each and all of the characters in this book. It was like every single character in this book was a really human being with his / hers own thoughts, feelings and opinions which really made me love this book even more.

Bilbo’s adventures in this book very very interesting, enjoyable, at times funny and very adventurous which really gave this book a place in my brain and heart to live forever rent free.

The writing style here is incredible, even thou there is a lot of old English in this book or at least in my copy of this book. But for me the old English makes this book even better and even more real.

As I was reading this book I felt like going back to childhood and reading “A Song Of Ice And Fire” for the first time. Where you didn’t care about anything else but to read the book. 

My only issue with this book is that it is too short, I really wish that this book would have been longer than it was. Because I desperately didn’t want this book to end in a way. 

If you want to get into fantasy then this book (and this series) is the best starting point you can get. Because its the OG fantasy, which really as times continues it gets more and more fans as it should do.

I Give This Book 4 / 5

“Under the Dome” By Stephen King Review

Posted in Book reviewTagged , , , Leave a comment

Under the Dome is the story of the small town of Chester’s Mill, Maine which is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. No one can get in and no one can get out. When food, electricity and water run short, the normal rules of society are changed. A new and more sinister social order develops, Dale Barbara, a young Iraq veteran, teams up with a handful of intrepid citizens to fight against the corruption that is sweeping through the town and to try to discover the source of the Dome before it is too late.

I gotta say that I had quite a few expectations for this book since its a Stephen King book. But this book didn’t live up to my expectations.

The plot in this book isn’t as much “horror” as it is “fantasy”, of course there are some pretty violent moments like a female getting raped, murder, raids etc. But to me it feels more like a dark fantasy rather than horror.

The plot had a very interesting premise but the way it was presented as and written made me bored for almost the entire read of this book. But there were some good moments here and there in this book which I liked a lot, but for the most part I was just thinking when I will be done with this book.

The ending in this book wasn’t the greatest I’ve seen by Stephen King, at first the ending is okay but the more you think about it the more lame the ending seems. Or it just could be me who found the ending in this book to be lame. 

The beginning of this book was very good and it really quickly got me interested in the plot and what will happen next. But the more I read of this book the more and more disappointed I got and the more my dislike began to grow for this book.

There was a lot of action in this book, a lot of things happening and because of this I gave this book few extra points for this. But for the most part all action ending pretty quickly. And there were some things happening which really could be the whole chapter but Stephen King have forced it to be just couple of pages long. Which really annoyed me.

The characters here weren’t the greatest, I found them to be annoying and if I met them in real life and had a short conversation with them I would bit the shit out of them because there were so annoying. At the same time the characters in this book seemed to not be thinking but rather have 5 years old who would get angry if they weren’t allowed to do what they wanted to do.

To be very honest with you, this book was way too long than it needed to be. Because you could easily delete the half of this book and it would have been better than it is with the full 1000+ pages we get in this book.

There are some moments in this book which drag for far too long, and at times because of these moments I wanted to just DNF this book. 

The writing style here was very good, you could easily tell that it was written by the master of horror himself. The writing style was very interesting and enjoyable. And in a way it made this book so much better than it would have been if it had writing style Which really made me give this book some extra points.

I Give This Book 2 / 5

“The Midnight Club” By Christopher Pike Review

Posted in Book reviewTagged , , Leave a comment

Rotterdam Home, a hospice where teenagers with terminal illnesses went to die, was home to the Midnight Club–a group of five young men and women who met at midnight and told stories of intrigue and horror. One night they made a pact that the first of them to die would make every effort to contact the others from beyond the grave.

To be very honest here I didn’t know much about this book before actually reading it, of course I watched the Netflix series based off on this book but I didn’t know how true the series would be to this book.

This book really surprised me a lot because I really liked it a lot. And I was completely glued to it in just such a way that I read it in less than a year. 

This book is very short read, my copy of this book had only 212 pages and after finishing this book I was very mixed about this book. Because I had a lot of thoughts about this book and a lot of those thoughts weren’t quite on the same page with each other.

On the one hand this book was too short and I would get to know those characters much more and to be on a journey with them for longer than just those 200 pages but at the same time the size of this book was what I needed it to be. Because I have the feeling that if this book was longer than it would quickly become a shitty book. 

The plot in this book is very unique and I for sure haven’t come a plot like this so far. Is about hospice for teenagers with very shitty and terminal illnesses which didn’t have a long time left to live. Its a very devastating plot for sure but at the same time its very unique. 

The ending of this book was very heartbreaking, because of all the things which happen at the end but at the same time its very satisfying end. And I feel like if this book was longer then the ending would have been less satisfying than it actually was. I really like the ending, which made me give this book some extra points for. 

The characters in this book was good, we don’t get a lot of characters in this book but does we get are good. I wouldn’t say that they are very good because we get way too little time with them. The characters doesn’t have a lot to depth to them but its understandable because we only get 200 pages of this book. 

Even tho the characters in this book doesn’t have a lot of depth, they still have things that make them unique and something which makes us the readers like them. 

However I got very annoyed at the very end of this book at Ilonka Pawluk because in my opinion she was way too hopeful and she didn’t feel like the same character we spend the book getting to know. It felt like she has aged 60 years in 1 chapter out of nowhere.

The writing style in this book was very simple and easy to read. And because of the easy and simple writing style this book was very obvious that it is aimed towards the Young Adult genre fans. But I didn’t mind that because I knew from the beginning that this book was aimed towards the YA fans.

The writings style was very good here because it made the whole plot of teenager who have terminal illness less heavier and it made it easier to read with his whole heavy topic going on in this book.

This book is very powerful but at the same time it is also very sad because of the topic. But the way this book presents this very sad plot makes it likable at least in my opinion.

Even thou this book is aimed towards young adults it deals with a very mature topic. Which really surprised me when I started reading this book. But even thou the topic is very heavy and mature the punchline of this book is friendship, love and life when you know it wont last long.

I Give This Book 4 / 5

“Kasacja” By Remigiusz Mróz Review

Posted in Book reviewTagged , , , Leave a comment

Syn biznesmena zostaje oskarżony o zabicie dwóch osób. Sprawa wydaje się oczywista. Potencjalny winowajca spędza bowiem 10 dni zamknięty w swoim mieszkaniu w towarzystwie ciał zamordowanych osób. Sprawę prowadzi Joanna Chyłka, pracująca dla bezwzględnej, warszawskiej korporacji. Nieprzebierająca w środkach prawniczka, która zrobi wszystko, by odnieść zwycięstwo w batalii sądowej. Pomaga jej młody, zafascynowany przełożoną, aplikant Kordian Oryński. Czy jednak wspólnie zdołają doprowadzić sprawę do szczęśliwego finału?

This book is available in polish and English at the time of writing this review. So all the English speaking readers can also get hacked up with this book.

I gotta say that this book was a wild ride, and I loved every second of it. And Im very happy that I finally got to read this book and start the series. Because since 2015 I’ve heard a ton of good things about this book and whole series, I was very reluctant to read this book because I thought that I wouldn’t like it but oh boy, I was wrong. After finishing this book I have to say that I love this fucking book.

The beginning of this book is very intriguing because you don’t know whats is going on, you follow Kordian who have been accepted to very prestige law firm in Warsaw as a apprentice. We don’t know what to expect, what will happen to him or anything. Kordian gets quickly assigned to a mentor who is also the junior associate of the law firm, and her name is Joanna Chyłka. 

The plot is very very good, I was completely sucked into this book and I found it impossible trying to put this book down. Because I needed to know what will happen next and I was so deep into this book that during the time I was reading this book nothin else mattered to me. Which really honest happen so often to me.

All the characters here are very good, and to be honest I wouldn’t have any problems with becoming very good friends with each of the characters in this book. All of the characters in this book have huge personality, and something which really makes you like them a lot. You even come to like the one of the name partners of the law firm which really portrayed as the bad guy in the law firm, you know but you come slowly to the point where you like him as well.

When it comes to the two main characters of this book (and the whole series) which of course as Kordian Oryński and Joanna Chyłka. And oh boy, I cant even explain how much I love these two characters. Even thou they have met in this book, they have like the best relationship ever. Their relationship is of best friends who have know each other for decades and who aren’t afraid to roast each other at times. But also they two have a spark between them, there are moments where they almost kiss. And I kept wondering when during the series the become a official couple.

Kordian Oryński is straight out of law university and of course he doesn’t have a lot of experience as a lawyer but you can very easily see how create of a lawyer he will become within the next couple of books in this series. 

And don’t get me even started about Joanna Chyłka, she is a bad as. She is easily the best female character I came across so far in my life. Very quickly in this book she secured herself a firm and secure spot in my heart and in my mind.

As for the rest of the characters in this book they are as good of characters as the main characters. Even the bad guy in this book which of course is the client which Kordian Oryński and Joanna Chyłka are representing is oh boy, amazing. The bad guy in this book is all over the place, because he gives a very weird vibe like there is something he is hiding and you just cant decide is he is innocent or if he has committed the crimes he is charged for.

The writing style here is incredible. Because its like the author knows what words to use to grab your attention. The writing style here was a part of the charm of this book because it very very good. 

The entire book is very interesting, enjoyable and I knew within the first 100 pages of this book that 5 stars rating isn’t enough to show how much I love this book.

This book doesn’t have the fastest speed, it tends to be more on the slow side of things but it really makes up for this fact. Because it goes through everything which happens in this book more in detail and in doing so it sucks you deeper into it just like if you are the lawyer in this book and learning everything as things comes up. 

The ending of this book has a huge plot twist here, because the closer and closer to the ending the more of the hopeless feeling you get about the two main characters losing their court case for their client. I cant say what will happen in the ending of this book, because I don’t want to spill the tea for anyone who hasn’t read the book yet. But just be prepared the ending will be a huge “what the fuck happened here?” Moment.

I Give This Book 5 / 5

“Ahsoka” By E.K. Johnston Review

Posted in Book reviewTagged , , Leave a comment

Fans have long wondered what happened to Ahsoka after she left the Jedi Order near the end of the Clone Wars, and before she re-appeared as the mysterious Rebel operative Fulcrum in Rebels. Finally, her story will begin to be told. Following her experiences with the Jedi and the devastation of Order 66, Ahsoka is unsure she can be part of a larger whole ever again. But her desire to fight the evils of the Empire and protect those who need it will lead her right to Bail Organa, and the Rebel Alliance.

Once again ive read a star wars book from the new era of Star Wars where everything goes to shit. By it I mean after Disney purchased Star Wars to destroy it.

I personally think that Ahsoka is one of many underrated characters from the Star Wars universe which the movies completely ignores but which we as star wars deserve to see more of. And I don’t mean those watered down Disney star wars shows or books.

This book had a lot of potential which the author didn’t use. It takes place not long after the order 66. So of course books set in that time have great potential especially if the books are about Jedis who have survived. But this book completely ignores that and just give use not so great book.

The plot here was okay, it was entertaining and interesting. But to say more about the plot its almost impossible because in the end the author gave us a very shallow plot besides it being somehow entertaining and interesting.

To be very honest the plot is heavily amid towards the new fans of star wars rather than the old fans of star wars. Because it gives us a lot of background information which old fans have heard a million times before like ahsoka being a Anakin’s Palawan during clone wars, Anakin turning to the dark side, Obi-wan hiding on Tattoine, Sheev Palpatine being a shit lord and being able to hide that fact from Jedis when he was a senator and then a Supreme Chancellor etc.

However I liked the fact that this book brought out those facts for new fans because those facts were nicely presented and I actually liked how the author have given us the facts in this book.

The writing style again makes you feel like it is more of an YA writing style rather than anything else. Because of this it makes you feel even more on how this book is targeting the new fans of star wars rather than the old fans.

But even thou the writing style feels like a YA written style, there are a lot of moments in the plot where the plot seems like it was written for pre-teens between the ages of like 6 – 12. 

When it comes to the characters in this book I have to say that aren’t the greatest. They are still good, but I wouldn’t love Ahsoka so much if this book was my introduction to her rather than the Clone Wars animated series. This is because she is more on the shallow side, and she doesn’t feel like herself because she is more like Obi-Wan in this book. Which means that she thinks mostly about tactics and strategies. Which made me feel like the author is trying to take what people love about Obi-Wan and give his attributes to Ahsoka to make her the new Obi-Wan if you will.

At times this book felt like I did hate some of the OG characters because how it mentioned them in passing like they didn’t matter at all. Like Bail Organa or Yoda. Which really didn’t go well with me. 

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“Snape: The definitive analysis of Hogwarts’s mysterious potions master” By Lorrie Kim Review

Posted in Book reviewTagged , , Leave a comment

While the Harry Potter series may follow the journey of the Boy Who Lived, if you want to know the whole story, keep your eyes fixed on Severus Snape. This greasy-haired, grumpy genius, one of J.K. Rowling’s most enduring gifts to English literature, is the archetypal ill-tempered demanding, acerbic, and impossible to ignore. Over the span of seven novels, Snape’s remarkable role in the series can be hard to Where do his true allegiances lie? Can a former Death Eater change his spots? Why does he seem to loathe the boy he’s pledged to protect?

As some of you might know, my all time favorite character from the wizarding world universe is no other than Severus Snape. So when I found out that this book exists of course I needed to read it ASAP. And now I did.

Its been a while since ive read any books from the wizzarding world so I’m glad that there are more books coming from this universe and that I picked up this book.

I personally don’t have any strong feelings about this book, because I didn’t like it nor did I dislike it. I’m glad that I’ve read this book but I’m very neutral about this book after reading this book.

To be very honest this book doesn’t bring anything new to the universe, as all of those things which this book mentions have already been found out and talked about on Harry Potter Theory YouTube channel which by the way is incredible and I recommend watch the hell out of it, if you are like me a huge wizarding world nerd.

This book talks about Severus Snape in all 7 movies and the theater play which was published back in 2016 if I’m not fully mistaken. 

When it comes to the 7 movies this book presents us with quotes from Severus Snape or Harry, Hermonie and Ron or other students or teachers / characters talking about Severus Snape which may give us a better picture of who truly Severus Snape is behind all the secrets and Dumbledore’s schemes.

However this book is very objective, because its not canon or anything close to being the Wizzarding world official statement of who Severus Snape really is. And because of this book being objective I found myself not agreeing with handful of things which the author stated in this book. 

There were a lot of moments during reading this book where I felt that this book was dragging for way too long that it needed to. Because it would spend pages talking about a particular scene from the movies which really didn’t matter in the bigger picture. Like with the Boggart scene where no one talked about Severus Snape nor did he be present during it. 

There was also times where the author talked about J.K Rowling being homophobic because of what she said in interviews or tweeted on twitter. Which really made me want to beat the shit of the author of this book. Because just because someone doesn’t agree with the woke propaganda about sex and gender doesn’t mean they are homophobic or racist.  

The writing style here wasn’t the greatest because it felt like it was a university text book rather than a book based on a fantasy book series. Which really didn’t make me like this book more.

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School: Notes from a Street-smart Executive” By Mark H. McCormack Review

Posted in Book reviewTagged , , Leave a comment

Mark H. McCormack, one of the most successful entrepreneurs in American business, is widely credited as the founder of the modern-day sports marketing industry. On a handshake with Arnold Palmer and less than a thousand dollars, he started International Management Group and, over a four-decade period, built the company into a multimillion-dollar enterprise with offices in more than forty countries.

There are a lot of good business books out there in the world, but I gotta say that this book isn’t one of the good business book. But don’t get me wrong this book is a okay business book.

It for sure talks about a few interesting and somehow helpful things, but as someone who have read quite a few business books at this point I can tell you that this book repeats the same shit as the other business book say. This book was first published in 1984, so I will not be so harsh for this book due to its age and when it was written.

This book doesn’t have a lot of business strategies as much as his have business anecdotes from the author’s business carer and life. 

All the business strategies, tips and whatever else the author gives us in this book feels like those things you don’t get taught at Harvard Business School, because of all those things mentioned in this book are just common sense and things you should know about if you want to get into Harvard business school. So this book wasn’t that helpful, but rather it was using the name of IVY League school to get people buying this book.

All the business strategies, tips and whatever else you will find in this book are all the things the author have learned in his career and from being the CEO of IMG (International Management Group). To be honest I didn’t know who the author was before doing some research about him right before I started writing this review. And to be honest I got clickbaited to buying and reading this book.

There were many moments while reading this book, where I got the impression that the author of this book was in love and fully obsessed with himself because he founded and was the CEO of IMG. And I hate those kind of people who are acting like the whole universe is spinning around them because of that single thing they done decades before. 

But also the title is very misleading before the author of this book never went to Harvard Business School, like ever. He had only given few lectures at Harvard Business School. So how can I person who never went to that school know what the school teaches you and what it doesn’t teach you? Can someone explain that to me because I don’t understand it.

However this book is interesting and enjoyable to read. And at the same time it is very easy to understand. It is written in such a way that anyone and everyone can read it even if you didn’t go to IVY League school. Which really made me give this book some extra point for doing this.

The writing style is easy and simple. In a way the writing style makes it fun and quick to read because the writing style is very nicely put together. And it doesn’t use big fancy words as the IVY League schools like to do. 

However there were times where the book was repeating itself. Because it would talk about something is was basically the thing as the previous section but only one or two things differently said.

I Give This Book 3 / 5