This is not a test, it wasn't the best.

This is not a test by Courtney Summers

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
323 pages
Released: June 2012
Buy it @ book depository

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

Review

 

This was one of those books that I've been dying to read for a while, and when I finally did read it I was a little disappointed. I wasn't expecting a zombie novel with lots of blood & gore because I knew that it wasn't all about that. I get that there was more to this novel, but it wasn't doing it for me.

This is a story about six teenagers trying to survive the zombie apocalypse, and as I mentioned earlier it's more than that. There's issues of death, abuse, suicide and under-age sex to name a few. Very hard hitting at times.

Courtney Summers writes a fantastic book with realistic characters that have flaws. I think I have a love/hate relationship with her books because I enjoy the writing and the story but I usually dislike the characters. As with her books, nothing is off limits and intimate issues are discussed.

There are a few squeamish zombie moments in this, but it's good for someone who scares easily because they're not that bad. Overall I'm glad I read it, but I couldn't connect with the characters.

On the cover

 

I like this cover but not as much as the normal book cover. They are very similar with the hair flowing across the face and the light blue. The cover shows an actual scene that happens in the book, well I'm pretty sure anyway.

What I'm listening to next: More than this by Patrick Ness

 

 

 

2013 was a year full of great movies

There were so many movies that I loved last year and there's still some that I haven't got around to watching yet. You'll notice there's been a lot of sequels released this year and I've enjoyed them. Here is a list of all the fantastic movies that I loved and if you haven't seen any of them yet then get on it!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Needless to say I loved this movie. I am a HUGE fan of Lord of the Rings and I will snatch up any chance there is to be in this world again.

 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

In one word: Flawless. Catching Fire was so amazing and true to the novel, I can not wait to see what they do with the next two movies. Good for people who may not have read the books. 

We're the Millers

So hilarious and crude at times but it made it all the more funny. I was laughing through the whole movie. I love Jennifer Aniston and she is gorgeous in this, she's done quite a few good comedies lately. 

World War Z

Such an epic movie, so suspenseful! I hate zombies but this wasn't the usual gore zombie movie, it was more of a quiet scary film with an interesting storyline.  

This is the end

This was an unexpected awesome movie. I had heard nothing about this and was surprised at how funny, scary and weird this was. A real favourite and what movie with the Backstreet Boys in it isn't awesome?! 

The Conjuring

WOW this was scary! One of the scariest movies I've seen and I've seen a lot. I hear there is going to be a sequel and I can't wait for that!

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Benedict Cumberbasch kicks butt as a bad guy, he is becoming a favourite guy of mine. I really liked the first Star Trek movie and this one goes one up on that. I don't think I'll ever be a trekkie but I enjoy these movies. 

Elysium

I was surprised by this one. I didn't know much about it and found myself really enjoying the story.  A dystopian type movie with Matt Damon at his best.

Oblivion

Tom Cruise is a great actor, may be a bit of a weirdo in real life but I love his movies. Another dystopian movie that makes you think and appreciate life. 

Epic

What a cute movie. It was funny and had a great message, some really good voice acting and the actors chosen for the characters was great casting. Lots of familiar voices. 

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

Magical fun and very uplifting. Made me believe in magic, all actors were marvelous in this. Jim Carey is quite strange though... 

Iron Man 3

Is this the end of Iron Man? Robert Downey Jnr is back and so is the suit or should I say suits. There's more laughs, action and evil in this installment of the loved iron man franchise.

The Hangover: Part 3

A great wrap up to this triology, the second wasn't all that great so I was hoping this was better than that. It was and so many funny moments with all our favourite people. 

Warm Bodies

Another zombie movie on my favourites list?! Yes, but it wasn't gory either and there was some romance thrown in. Haven't read the book but want to now. 

Monsters University

We get to see Mike as a child and he is so adorable! This wasn't as good as Monsters Inc. but I still thought it was good. The story was little predictable but it was a great way to show us how Sulley & Mike became best friends. 

Oz the Great and Powerful

The wizard of Oz is a favourite movie of mine and it was lovely to see more of wonderful land of Oz. Lovely colours used and a fantastic story.

What movies are on your favourites list from last year?

Not your average zombie

Ashes (Ashes Trilogy #1) by Ilsa Bick

Rating: 4 out of 5 hearts

465 pages

Released: September 2011

Buy it @ book depository

It could happen tomorrow . . .

An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions.

Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP.

For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it’s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.

Author Ilsa J. Bick crafts a terrifying and thrilling post-apocalyptic novel about a world that could become ours at any moment, where those left standing must learn what it means not just to survive, but to live amidst the devastation.

Review

This was not what I was expecting at all! That's not a bad thing though, it's a really good thing. I was expecting a gory zombie novel, which it is at times, but there was so much more than gore. It was a slightly romantic story where people are trying to survive during a confusing time.

Zombies aren't my favourite thing to read or watch, I think the whole idea of cannibalism is terrifying! But my boyfriend LOVES zombies and wishes the zombie apocalypse was here already... so because of this I've seen a lot of zombie movies and videogames. Normally in those movies there's usually an epidemic/viral outbreak that turns people into the undead. In this book they are called 'the changed' which is a completely different twist on your average zombies.

I think this was more scary because the idea of an electronic impulse knocking out all technology could happen now. Our society relies so much on technology that if everything was suddenly shut off not many people would survive, I know I wouldn't!

The story was very intriguing but the characters were also really easy to like as well. Although Ellie, who is an 8 year old tag along was quite annoying at times, but I guess most kids that age would find it hard to get used to living without technology. Alex is the main character and the story is told from her point of view. She is a very strong female character, but she has her weaknesses and I liked that she was both strong at times while also being weak at times because it makes her real.

There are two male characters in this that are vying for Alex's affections, but it's not a love triangle as such because they happen at different points in the novel (I don't want to give too much away). The romance was very slow paced, no insta love in this book. I like that guys who read this would not be put off because there isn't any mushy love.

Oh and that ending!! I was like "wha....??? There has to be another disc, that can't be the end please!" It was so excruciating, there are so many unanswered questions and you're left hanging. Have the changed become clever? I don't know if I should wait to get the audiobook version or just go out and read the book. I think the latter might win. I highly recommend this to people who would be put off by flesh-eating zombies because it's not a book about just that.

On the cover

That face is so creepy, I think it's the eyes that make it kind of scary - There's no pupils and they're white. I also understand now all the lines across the face, I guess they're to represent the Electro-magnetic pulse.

What I'm listening to next: The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge

We are more than halfway through the year and I am more than halfway through my goodreads 2013 reading challenge. I decided to challenge myself with reading 60 books this year, At the moment I'm 4% ahead of schedule. I wanted to show off all the books I've read so far. I love looking at the different covers, It shows that I have a wide variety of books that I like to read. Here are all the covers so far...

Have you read any of these books? Let me know what you thought and check out my good reads account to see reviews of these books.

Books I'm pining for ~ Halloween style!

"Books I'm pining for" is a feature for new and old books that I want to read. But being so close to Halloween I thought I would share some spooky reads that I'm looking forward to. Enjoy! *Evil laugh*

Hemlock Grove: A Novel by Brian McGreevy
Released: March 2012
An exhilarating reinvention of the gothic novel, inspired by the iconic characters of our greatest myths and nightmares.


The body of a young girl is found mangled and murdered in the woods of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania, in the shadow of the abandoned Godfrey Steel mill. A manhunt ensues—though the authorities aren’t sure if it’s a man they should be looking for.

Some suspect an escapee from the White Tower, a foreboding biotech facility owned by the Godfrey family—their personal fortune and the local economy having moved on from Pittsburgh steel—where, if rumors are true, biological experiments of the most unethical kind take place. Others turn to Peter Rumancek, a Gypsy trailer-trash kid who has told impressionable high school classmates that he’s a werewolf. Or perhaps it’s Roman, the son of the late JR Godfrey, who rules the adolescent social scene with the casual arrogance of a cold-blooded aristocrat, his superior status unquestioned despite his decidedly freakish sister, Shelley, whose monstrous medical conditions belie a sweet intelligence, and his otherworldly control freak of a mother, Olivia.

At once a riveting mystery and a fascinating revelation of the grotesque and the darkness in us all, Hemlock Grove has the architecture and energy to become a classic in its own right—and Brian McGreevy the talent and ambition to enthrall us for years to come.

Spook's Blood (The Last Apprentice/Wardstone Chronicles #10) 
by Joseph Delaney
Released: June 2012

Time is running out for Thomas Ward. His final battle against the Fiend is drawing near, and the Spook's apprentice has never felt more alone in his task. Isolated and afraid, the Fiend is set to send the greatest of his servants against him - Siscoi, a Vampire God more ferocious than anything he has yet faced. Tom must risk his life to prevent the evil beast from entering this world, even as he learns that the final destruction of the Fiend may involve a sacrifice more terrible than he can imagine...

Seed by Ania Ahlborn
Released: June 2011

Fans of Stephen King, Jack Kilborn, and Blake Crouch… prepare to meet the Devil.

In the vine-twisted swamps of Louisiana, the shadows have teeth.

Jack Winter has spent his entire life running from something no one else can see. His childhood is his darkest secret, but after a near fatal accident along a deserted road, the darkness he was sure he’d escaped rears its ugly head… and smiles.

But this time, he isn’t the only one who sees the soulless eyes of his past. This time, his six-year-old daughter Charlie leans into his ear and whispers: Daddy, I saw it too.

And then she begins to change.

Faced with reliving the nightmares of his childhood, Jack watches his daughter spiral into the shadows that had nearly consumed him twenty years before.

But Charlie isn’t the only one who’s changing.

Jack never outran the darkness. It’s been with him all along.

And it’s hungrier than ever.

A new breed of dark fiction: the subtlety of Seed will haunt you, and the end will wickedly satisfy.

Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough
Released: April 2011

Beware of Long Lankin, that lives in the moss. . . .When Cora and her younger sister, Mimi, are sent to stay with their elderly aunt in the isolated village of Byers Guerdon, they receive a less than warm welcome. Auntie Ida is eccentric and rigid, and the girls are desperate to go back to London. But what they don't know is that their aunt's life was devastated the last time two young sisters were at Guerdon Hall, and she is determined to protect her nieces from an evil that has lain hidden for years. Along with Roger and Peter, two village boys, Cora must uncover the horrifying truth that has held Bryers Guerdon in its dark grip for centuries -- before it's too late for little Mimi. Riveting and intensely atmospheric, this stunning debut will hold readers in its spell long after the last page is turned.

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter
Released: September 2012

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I'd tell them I love them.
I wish... Yeah, I wish.

The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle
Released: September 2012

Katie is on the verge of her Rumspringa, the time in Amish life when teenagers can get a taste of the real world. But the real world comes to her in this dystopian tale with a philosophical bent. Rumors of massive unrest on the “Outside” abound. Something murderous is out there. Amish elders make a rule: No one goes outside, and no outsiders come in. But when Katie finds a gravely injured young man, she can’t leave him to die. She smuggles him into her family’s barn—at what cost to her community? The suspense of this vividly told, truly horrific thriller will keep the pages turning.

Two and Twenty Dark Tales: Dark Retellings of Mother Goose Rhymes by Many Authors
Released: October 2012

In this anthology, 20 authors explore the dark and hidden meanings behind some of the most beloved Mother Goose nursery rhymes through short story retellings. The dark twists on classic tales range from exploring whether Jack truly fell or if Jill pushed him instead to why Humpty Dumpty, fragile and alone, sat atop so high of a wall. The authors include Nina Berry, Sarwat Chadda, Leigh Fallon, Gretchen McNeil, and Suzanne Young.

Dead River by Cyn Balog
Released: April 2013

My friends and I are spending prom weekend at a remote wooded cabin on the Dead. The Dead River.

I thought it was going to be just us.

I was wrong. 
Nothing is what it seems in this creepy paranormal thriller by Cyn Balog.

What books are you pining for?