The Rogue Book Reviewer

Well let me start this off by saying I am not a Sophie Kinsella fan. I read the first two Shopaholic books and just absolutely abhorred Rebecca Bloomwood. I couldn’t get over how incredibly irresponsible she was so I just plumb gave up. When the movie came out, I actually physically snorted at the idea of paying money to put myself through that kind of torture. Which is why even I was surprised when the back blurb of My Not So Perfect Life caught my attention, enough for me to actually pay kobo to have it (yes, yes I know libraries will lend e-books but to this day I haven’t figured it out). Katie Brenner is so goddamn relatable to the point in my life that I am at, that there are no words. The aimless, praying (and working) for the job of your dreams, not being able to see how to get the life you want, soul crushing stress... yeah. I can get that. And looking at people who are living on the “other side” where the grass appears to be so much greener, without looking past the surf...

This week we have Deena, a dear friend and avid bibliophile, writing a guest review of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. It just seemed appropriate, given the current political clime in America and that's all the political discussion you're going to get from me! Enjoy, friends. If you aren't Canadian I should let you know, in Canada, so beloved a Canadian icon is Atwood that if you say anything against her works they take away your passport. (kidding of course) If you are Canadian you have more than likely read this book. If you haven't, then this review is for you. Written in the mid 80's as I recall, The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel (we are apparently now calling these "Speculative Fiction") set in and around America in 2005. Atwood, a strong feminist, was horrified at the various political, social and religious trends of the 80's and so wrote this book in response to what would happen if the USA took those philosop...

This was a harder one. Dense, difficult to maneuver, and fraught with mirrors for our society, W e Are Unprepared forces the reader to take a deep look at the unsustainable way we live, and the fragility of human relationships when faced with forces greater than humanity. Like I said, this book is dense and took a lot longer to read than 400 pages normally would. There is a lot of emoption, and it is entirely from the perspective of Ash, in the face of an incoming storm that will forever change the face of the planet and the face of his relationship with his wife Pia.  The book is hard to get through, because it makes you examine your own life and the unsustainable way we are living as a species. It takes place in a small Vermont town called Isole which brings the idea of a world-changing Superstorm home. It is what would happen when people need to come together, but lines are drawn because humans love to fight and tend to be disagreeable at their very core. By not setting it in...

4.5/5 Hello everyone, thanks for tuning in! Today I am reviewing Rules of the Game by James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton. This book is the third and final in the Endgame Series so there may be some spoilers from The Calling and Sky Key ahead for the sake of an "Endgame" primer, but probably not. The basic premise of Endgame is that there are twelve lines, and everyone on Earth is genetically connected to one of the twelve lines.  At some indeterminate time, the Players will be called to win Endgame for their line, with every other Player failing (or most likely being killed throughout the duration of the game), and their entire lines being destroyed. All of this has been orchestrated by a seven-fingered alien named kepler22b. I am not exaggerating when I say that most are killed. I won't give you a specific number but there are a very small number of Players left by the end of the series. Try not to get attached, it'll only end in tears. It is a relatively viol...

Carve the Mark - Veronica Roth Well that was just awesome.  For anyone that knows me personally, they know that I am a huge fan of the Divergent series, also by Veronica Roth, but sometimes a second series isn't as good as the first. I was afraid that this was going to be the case. Divergent was rich with interesting, brave, complex characters and that was what drew me in and keeps me coming back to it.  I have to say, I was not at all disappointed with Carve the Mark.  Cyra is just as complicated a heroine as Tris, but her story is much darker and more pain filled than Tris ever was.  Carve the Mark is full blown fantasy. It is not dystopian, it is not futuristic. It is literally set in a different galaxy which made it a more interesting world for Ms. Roth to create. As usual, she pulls you in with an idea that is just different enough to make you wondering how it is going to work: the currentgift. Each person on the planet has one, and no two are alike. Cyra's...

I read it very quickly, while on vacation. It was really good. So. Thriller... Absolutely. Bit of a mind bender, I figured out how Emma died about two chapters before the book tells you, but I still wasn´t completely sure. Delaney works really hard to make it so you think it´s someone else, but to me it felt like a point trying too hard which made the misdirection fail. It felt like it just made it more clear that the obvious killer was not actually the killer. So once we found out who the actual killer is, it seemed like a moot point. So, that kind of makes it clear that the actual killer is not the plot twist, so I will leave that to your reading pleasure. What I was impressed with was the authors ability to build up a creepy sensation of being watched. To the point where I actually got up to lock the door, even though I clearly am not currently stationed at One Folgate Street. The creepiest thing is..  youre not being watched by a person... Anyways. I recommend. I´m not sur...

Hey everyone! As promised, I am working through American Gods,  while simultaneously   listening to Jim Butcher's Storm Front. In the meantime, I thought you may like to know a bit more about me.  I am a lifetime book lover, which I'm sure is unsurprising, given the fact that I'm working on a book blog.  I'm a big fan of young adult novels, historical fiction and romance, fiction, sci fi and fantasy and I have just started getting into memoirs. These will be the most common genres featured on the blog. You will notice some of the stuff I review is quite old (case in point, American Gods ) but I have never read them, so you'll be getting my take.  I chose to be the Rogue Reviewer because I very often disagree with reviews- I will adore books that people hate, and hate books that win literary awards. It happens. The same is true of movies I review.  I will also occasionally have some featured reviews from some of my favourite readers, especially those tha...