Book Review: Crank: Fallout

                                                                 Fallout Review

Fallout is the third book in the Crank trilogy and this book follows the story of Kristina's three oldest children who are now teenagers. Hunter is a college student who was raised by Kristina's mother and step-father he's mostly well adjusted but resents that Kristina couldn't get it together enough to raise any of her kids. Autumn lives her grandfather but doesn't even know that Kristina is her mom and she OCD and is overall very anxious. Summer is in the foster care system but sees Kristina the most out of the three siblings but that still doesn't mean that they have a good relationship.

This book basically deals with Hunter, Autumn and Summer's relationships with their romantic partners and their parents and how those two relationships can affect one another. Despite both the characters romantic relationship and parental being more or less developed than each other all of the main characters are affected by both relationships through out the book. The book ends with all three of the siblings romantic relationships in different places but in somewhat similar places with Kristina with them all seeming to give up any hope of her being a mom to them.

Overall this was a good book with interesting characters that were compelling to read about. The writing is this book was beautiful with the way it was written in verse like Ellen Hopkins other novels. Please tell me your thoughts about this book or the Crank series as a whole in the comment section below.

Book Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

                                    The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Review

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is about how an inexperience journalist, Monique Grant, is specifically requested to interview Evelyn Hugo a legendary Hollywood actress who hasn't given anyone an interview in the decades since she's retired from acting. The magazine that Monique works for reluctantly asks her to do the interview with Evelyn since she refuses to do any interview with anyone else but it turns out that Evelyn isn't interested in giving an interview but rather she wants Monique to write her life story.

The majority of this book is Evelyn telling her life story to Monique and through out this story we learn about how Evelyn grew up in poverty and dreamed of becoming an actress since it was her mother's dream before she when Evelyn was still young. Evelyn learned shortly after going through puberty that men where very attractive to her which at first she saw as a burden but soon learned to use men's lust for as a tool to get what she wants. The book follows Evelyn's life story by dividing into sections which cover her seven different marriages. Evelyn first marriage is one where she uses her first husband in order to get to Hollywood and the marriage ends once she starts to get real success as an actress. Evelyn second marriage is one that actually started off based in love but soon turned sour when her husband reveals a cruel side and they both end up falling out of love with each other by the time their marriage ends. The next several marriages Evelyn has are more about her wanting the public to believe a certain narrative that she weaving for them then about love for any of her husbands. Another aspect of the book is about the love of Evelyn's life that she never got to married by their relationship with each other spanned longer than any of Evelyn's marriages.

Overall this book was fantastic and Evelyn was a fantastic and complicated character that you weren't always sure if you liked her or not but you always respected her none the less. Please tell me your thoughts about this book in the comment section below.

Book Review: The Luxe

                                                              The Luxe Review

The Luxe is set in the late 1800s and is about the young elite of Manhatten's social scene and all the scandals and problems they have. The main characters we follow are Elizabeth Holland who comes from old money and is a proper young lady which makes most of the other main characters hate her because they think she's dull, fake or snobby. Elizabeth is willing to do whatever she has to keep her family stable but she is also in love with a servant named Will. Diana Holland is Elizabeth's younger sister who is a free spirit and cares not for the conventions of upper class society and she is full of life which is something that attracts Elizabeth's betrothed Henry to her since he is something of a kindred spirit to her. Henry Schoonmaker is a bit wild he likes very much to party and fool around with quite a few ladies this is something that has gotten him written about in quite a few gossip articles in the papers which is something that displeases his father who hopes to run for mayor. Henry is forced into an engagement with proper and boring Elizabeth in order to keep getting money from his father which he needs because he doesn't have a career of his own. Penelope Hayes is from new money and she's a friend of sorts with Elizabeth and she had been dating Henry before he got engaged to Elizabeth. Penelope is someone who is into social climbing and believes in keeping her enemies closer than her friends so she is one to watch out for. The final main character we follow is Lina Broud who is Elizabeth's personal maid and former friend she dislikes Elizabeth, is in love with Will and wishes to rise to a higher social class.

This book is one that deals mostly with interconnected relationships that go on between the main characters that we follow through out the book as well as having them have to find ways to work within the guidelines of how society thinks that they should behave. I felt I like this book was a bit of a slow start but as time went on I found myself more invested and interested in the characters relationships with each other. Overall I thought that this book was pretty good and I find myself wanting to read the next book in the series which is always a good thing. Please tell me your thoughts on the this book in the comment section below.

Book Review: The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle

                                                    The Hidden Oracle Review

The Hidden Oracle is about how Apollo wakes up in a dumpster in New York City months after the war with Gaea to discover that Zeus has turned him into a mortal because Zeus has decided that Apollo is at fault for the war with Gaea and this is his punishment for that which is something that has happened multiple times to Apollo in the past. Apollo ends up having to serve a young demi-god named Meg who is a daughter of Demeter and has yet to go to Camp Half-blood, as part of his punishment. Once they get to the camp they discover that the prophecies still aren't working and that campers have been going missing Chiron wants Apollo's help on this matter but Apollo would rather they focus on his issues both because he's self centered and because he doesn't even know how to help without his godly powers. Apollo may not want to help the camp but Meg seems to think he should so since she's in charge of him she can order him to help out whether he likes it or not.

While at camp Apollo ends up spending time with his children who he know looks the same age as which is a bit weird for all of them but they are supportive of him which is something that causes Apollo to bond with them a bit more than he has in the past. It soon becomes clear to Apollo that the campers going missing and the Oracles not working any longer are connected to each other and once two of Apollo's children that he bonded with earlier in the book go missing Apollo decides to go on the quest to find the one oracle that couldn't be taken or controlled by the villains. Apollo and Meg go on the quest to save the missing campers and find the last oracle that they can possible use together.

Overall I really liked this book it was a bit strange to have a god as the main character of the book even if he isn't a god at the moment but he's a pretty entertaining narrator who gives an interesting perspective on the series. I really liked what we saw of Apollo's character arc so far with him learning to care about others, being able to see his own flaws and him becoming willing to actually work on improving himself by the end of the book. I enjoyed Apollo and Meg's relationship as well and I liked getting to know characters better that were mentioned in previous books but were never really focused on before. Please tell me your thoughts on this book in the comment section below.

TV Review: Legacies: I'll Never Give Up Hope(2.01)

                                       Legacies: I'll Never Give Up Hope(2.01)Review

• I was a bit surprised that Landon was the one that got the voiceover at the beginning of the episode but I liked how he explained both how what the end of the school years like for himself and the other students which is that most of them got home but he doesn't have a home to return. I like that Landon is feeling the loss of Hope even if he's doesn't remember her but I'm sad that it's making him realize that not being able to stay dead means that he'll end up alone.
• I like that it's established that Lizzie is spending the summer with Caroline and I like that her and Josie are trying to find out more about the merge. Also there right about Caroline being cagey about the ascendant since I know how it's used in the merge and she hasn't even admitted that the merge can't happen without it.
• I'm glad that Lizzie is in therapy right now since she has been struggle with her mental since before the series began.
• I think it's concerning that Lizzie finds the idea of being literally unable to communicate with a guy to be a turn on and I'm glad that Josie points out to her that she should work on communicating with the people she's interested in.
• While I think it's nice of Josie to try and be there for her dad when he's going through a hard time I think that Lizzie is right to point out that Josie should focus more on making herself happy and worry less about others especially when there really isn't much she can do for them.
• I'm curious if the reason Lizzie asks Josie about Landon is because they got closer between seasons or just because he's one of the only other students staying at school during the summer.
• I feel a bit bad for Alaric that he's feeling betrayed by Dorian for voting him out but honestly he asked for the vote so he only really has himself to blame for his situation.
• I like that Landon is still making it a point to spend time with Raf even though he's stuck in wolf form and that he's looking for a way to get him out of it.
• I like that Kaleb invited MG to spend the summer with his family because he thinks of MG as his family now since MG was rejected by his own family. I also like that MG says that he still misses his family even if they suck because it's hard give up on the people you love.
• I like that MG mentioned that he likes Lizzie since his interested in Lizzie hasn't been brought up since like episode six of last season and well that's a relationship I'm interested in seeing develop.
• I thought it was sad how Landon was having a one sided conversation with Raf but I like that he tells him that he knows he's still in there and that he'll find away to help him and things will be good again.
• I feel bad for Hope that even though she sacrifice herself she's still stuck in the empty void that is malivore rather than being able to find peace on the afterlife.
• I was surprised when Clarke showed up and saved Hope from being sucked into some kind of whirlpool that suddenly developed.
• I felt really bad for Hope when Clarke pointed out that her sacrifice failed to fully destroy malivore and that not only is she now stuck in it none of her friends even remember that she existed in the first place.
• I'm glad that Clarke told Hope that her being there has changed how malivore works since before no two creatures were able to interact before which means there now may be a way to escape it.
• I like that Hope refused to work with Clarke because she doesn't trust him and she never will because she can't see that ever change. I like how Hope used the mimic spell on Clarke to get him away from her but I wonder if she'll regret it later if she can't find a way out or someone else to work with.
• I like that Alaric is look into how malivore could have been destroyed and who other than Landon was there at the time since forensics shows that two other people were there but no one can figure out who, I'm not surprised that he hasn't made any progress.
• I feel bad for Josie that Alaric won't tell her anything about the ascendant but I actually just remembered that the ascendant has to do with the prison worlds not the merge so I guess I take back my earlier statement about it.
• I felt bad for Landon when Alaric and Josie started to have their argument with him awkwardly stuck in the middle of it.
• I like that Hope does break her spell on Clarke so that he can save her from the portal again. I think malivore might be more dangerous know that all the creatures can interact with each other as we can see now with the dragon that is after Hope and Clarke.
• I think it's concerning that Landon seems to be killing himself regularly even if he does know that he'll come back to life. I think it's probably important that Landon can remember Hope right before he dies.
• I think that Josie is right to be concerned about Landon because he is hurting himself regardless off if the damage lasts or not and he doesn't know how many times he will come back or not.
• I liked how when Landon calls Josie out for focusing on dealing with other people's problems rather than her own and she tries to lie about it that Landon tells her he can tell she's lying and when she asks how he knows he says it's because he knows because of how much of time he spent lying in the past.
• I like that Josie suggest that maybe the way her and Landon should be coping with their problems should be by focusing more on living their lives rather than dying.
• I find the subplot about Kaleb wanting him and MG to win over his uncle in his family's BBQ contest to be pretty amusing.
• I thought that MG and Kim to be pretty cute in there scene together but her being Kaleb's sister might prevent anything from happening between them for awhile.
• While the montage of Landon and Josie growing closer together is very cute it doesn't say great things about their relationship long term since if the show really valued there relationship they would spend more time on it.
• I like that Josie tells Lizzie that her relationship with Landon is something that is fun and that she seems genuinely happy.
• I like how Clarke tells Hope that he isn't a villain but rather a boy that is terrified of his father and he has been trying to find a way to get away from him his whole life. I like that after hearing this Hope creates a comfort spell for him since she's now since a more human side of him.
• I felt made for Landon when he was freaking out since Raf hasn't turned up for dinner three days in a row while he previously had everyday for months and I like that Josie called him down and told him that she would do a locator spell to find him.
• I like how Hope uses a truth spell on Clarke and it's revealed that malivore has been trying to expel her rather than kill her but Clarke grabbing is what keeps her there because malivore wants to punish him by keeping him there. I'm glad that Hope figured this all out that she has escape malivore.
• I like how Landon told Josie about the visions he has before he dies and that he thinks that they might be the answer to everything and I like that Josie tells him that no answer is worth accidently going over his phoenix quota and not coming back.
• I like that Landon asks Josie if she's happy because he's been pretty happy since they started hanging out and she says she feels the same way.
• I'm glad that Alaric told Josie about how the ascendant is the key to a prison world that has their lunatic uncle in there who is the only other member living member of Josie and Lizzie's coven and that they will only contact him as a last resort.
• I like that Lizzie tells Josie that she has been going to therapy for three hours a day and that she's working hard on getting better, really better.
• I'm not surprised that Raf just no longer wants to spend time with Landon because he hasn't been human for so long but I still do feel bad for Landon.
• I thought that Landon and Josie's kiss was sweet but I was sad for Hope who saw it since she's still very much in love with him and he's moved on since he can't remember her.
• The scene between Hope and crystal hologram version of Landon was both very sweet and very sad. I like how the hologram Landon tells Hope that there isn't a world where he would want her to leave town without telling him about what happened to her. I'm sad that Hope doesn't want to say anything because she believes that Landon and everyone else are happier without her.
• I like that Kaleb says that he will help MG get with Lizzie since he forbid MG from talking to his sister over the summer.
• I'm worried about the creature that seemed to also escape malivore that Hope sees at the end of the episode but I'm happy that it will prevent her from leaving town.
• I'm disappointed but not surprised that Clarke is planning to earn his freedom by destroying Hope for malivore's sake.

Please tell me your thoughts on this episode.

Top Songs that Hit the Billboard Hot 100 in July of 2019

1. Blow-Ed Sheeran Feat. Chris Stapleton and Bruno Mars: This song is a rock style one about sex that just sounds really great and different from most everything else that charts. All three singers sound great on this song despite rock not being their primary genre that they preform in.
2. The Archer-Taylor Swift: This song is about Taylor allowing herself to be vulnerable with her partner even though the thought of doing so terrifies because of the way all of her other relationships have ended. I really love the lyrics for this song which really allows you to feel where Taylor's coming from and shows how much opening up to someone and having them see her true self scares her, I also like the hunter and prey metaphors she uses in the song as well. This song is a bit slower moving but it also sounds really beautiful and dreamlike because of this.
3. Antisocial-Ed Sheeran Feat. Travis Scott: This song is about being anti social while out and about with not wanting to really talk to anyone and wanting everyone to keep their distance from you. This song is one that also has pretty interesting production that I think fits the song really well with how it kind of puts everything at a distance.
4.Higher Love-Kygo and Whitney Houston: This song is basically just a Whitney Houston cover of Higher Love with a dance remix production provide by Kygo but since Whitney Houston was a fantastic singer this song really works and the production does a good job complimenting her vocals.
5. South of the Border-Ed Sheeran Feat. Camila Cabello and Cardi B: This song is a Latin style one about seeing someone that you are instantly attracted to and wanting to hook up with him. This song is one that I think just sounds really good which makes it a good listen despite a few awkward lyrics.
6. Girl-Maren Morris: This song seems to be about girl dealing with insecurities and being told that everything will be alright in the end. This song is a country when which I think suits Maren Morris' voice really well and I like the strings in the song as well.
7. Southbound-Carrie Underwood: This song seems to mostly be about southern stereotypes but I Still really like it because Carrie Underwood as a fantastic voice and the production is fun.
8. Talk-Khalid: This song is about the singer just wanting to talk to his partner about where their relationship is heading because he's more in love than he's ever been before. I like the production of this song and I like that Khalid spends the song in his higher voice which I personally like more than his lower voice.
9. Press-Cardi B: This is a song that deals with Cardi B's relationship with the press and I found it be interesting although I like it less and less as time goes on which is why it's so low on the list.
10. Cool-The Jonas Brothers: This song is one that I like just because I like the way that it sounds even though I'm not quite sure what it's about.

Book Review: People Like Us

                                                     People Like Us Review

People Like Us is about Kay Donovan a poor girl at a rich girls boarding school who as some dark secrets in her past and when she discovers the body of one of her classmates on the night of the Halloween dance she fears the police will suspect her despite her not knowing the student's body that she found. Shortly after finding the body Kay begins to be blackmail by a website that was set up by the dead girl before she dies and she is being blackmailed to hurt her close friends who are all considered mean girls therefore the dead girl had a reason to have a grudge against them. Kay following the instructions for the website ends up making her look suspicious and it ends up turning the whole school against her and having her become one the police's prime suspects.

Kay after becoming a suspect decides that it's up to her to clear her own name by finding out who the actual killer is and it turns out that the two most likely suspects are the dead girls ex-boyfriend Greg and her own ex-boyfriend Spencer who cheated on her with the dead girl a fact that Kay didn't learn until after she dead but no one seems to believe her on that fact. Kay ends up working with Nola a girl that she previously wrote off as weird but is good at hacking to help her with the investigation and since she is the only one that knows the truth about what is going on she also becomes Kay's only friend for a time. Through out the story we also learn of Kay's dark past that involves her best friend and brother's death.

Another important element in this story is that Kay is in love with her best friend Brie who already has a girlfriend and who is far too willing to believe the worst of Kay at the drop of hat for me to believe that they have that good of a friendship. While the book and Kay values her relationship with Brie more I have to say that I was more intrigued by Kay's relationship with Spencer who she was more honest with and never believed that she was capable of murder and honestly was just a lot more interesting.

Overall I thought that this was a good book but I felt like Kay made a lot of dumb choices in the beginning of the book that she didn't have to make which ended up with everyone hating her which is something I thought could've been avoid if she just went about things a little smarter. Please tell me your thoughts about this book in the comment section below.