REVIEW: Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography

Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris

Genres: Memoir, Autobiography

Published: October 2014 by Crown Archetype and Harper Audio

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover and Audiobook

Rating: 10/10

Description: Tired of memoirs that only tell you what really happened? Sick of deeply personal accounts written in the first person? Seeking an exciting, interactive read that puts the “u” back in “aUtobiography”? Then look no further than Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography! You will decide whether to try out for Doogie Howser, M.D. You will decide whether to spend years struggling with your sexuality. You will decide what kind of caviar you want to eat on board Elton John’s yacht. Choose correctly and you’ll find fame, fortune, and true love. Choose incorrectly and you’ll find misery, heartbreak, and a hideous death by piranhas. All this, plus magic tricks, cocktail recipes, embarrassing pictures from your time as a child actor, and even a closing song. Yes, if you buy one book this year, congratulations on being above the American average, but make that book Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography!

So far, NPH has definitely been my favorite audio book of the year. It was a grand slam. He crafted his memoir with the bravado and artistry and one can only expect from such a man. He provided the reader with outlandish adventures in which you, the reader, is Neil Patrick Harris and must decide your biggest life decisions. Being an audio book (and not being able to flip back and forth between pages like a traditional Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book), it was very well structured. It took us from NPH's days a little toddlin' magician, to his days on Doogie, to his Broadway debut, and beyond! It was a wonderful, amazing trip.         

He provided great and kind of creepily awesome magic tricks (yes. He performs magic through the pages, using you as a puppet. It was magnificent). 

I especially loved the bits where NPH would discuss little details about his projects as an actor or performer. Sometimes, he will perform a little diddy which is always a pleasant surprise. When he started doing the tongue twister bit from “Dr. Horrible”, I almost cried. Other bits he performed included excerpts from his legendary Tony performances. 

I'm not sure how, but NPH has discovered a way to share his experiences chilling with Elton John, being a super gorgeous and charming heart throb, and winning a Tony, without sounding like an utter tool. He didn't come off as condescending or cocky or anything. He is such a stand-up guy and I love him and I loved his memoir. The best memoir I've listened to so far. Who DOESN'T loved Neil Patrick Harris? Real talk.

Also, a week after I listened to this book, I had a dream that I was Neil Patrick Harris dressed up in full drag as Hedwig. So, beware! *spooky music starts*

REVIEW: Blackout

Blackout by Chris Myers
Genres: New Adult, Romance, Thriller/Mystery, Contemporary
Published: April 2015 by Chris Myers
Pages: 400
Format: Kindle Edition
Rating: 5.5/10
Description:  No restraining order will stop Dare from protecting Teal. The blackouts started happening when Teal was eight. There are long periods of her youth she doesn't remember. She has woken up in strange places, feeling disoriented and unaware of how long she's been out. After two years abroad attending a private school and sessions with a top-notch psychiatrist, she's been deemed cured. The blackouts have ceased, or so Teal thought, until she wakes up in a ditch back home in North Carolina. Dare, the man pulling her broken body from the wreckage, has a restraining order against him. He’s no longer the clean-cut boy she went frog gigging with but road-hardened. His lean, muscular arms, riddled with tats, drag her out of the SUV. She should fear him, but instead, his touch sparks memories that tell her she once worshiped him with all her heart.

Blackout is a physiological thriller, a romance, a mystery book all rolled into a New Adult format. It was a very interesting book that had a compelling premise. There is a great romance and a lot of cool physiological aspects. There is a fantastic, dark mystery that we get to explore, limited by our protagonist's memory loss. However, I found that a lot of potential was lost with the book as I found a couple problems with it.

Let's start with the good. The ambiance was executed very well. The unease and disquiet of an unfinished mystery in this town is definitely exemplified through the writing. The murder story that we only receive bits and pieces of throughout the book keep the story interesting and thrilling. It was much like a "whodunit." The narrative was engaging. The wrap-up in the end was very well done, bringing all the pieces and clues together to form a shocking and satisfying conclusion. The romance was steamy and passionate, and I did enjoy the relationship of Dare and Teal. I always looked forward to those scenes.

Some of the problems I found with the book was mostly to do with the characters. Most, if not all, of the characters were very flat and static, most of the supporting characters were just flat out stereotypes. Our protagonist, Teal, is a very typical "girl-next-door-turned-hot" character. I was annoyed with her at times by her ignorance to how attractive she is. Literally, every man she sees hits on her and she get's embarrassed and blushy every time. Her character was not very believable at all. Also, many of her decisions were pretty dumb. (*Spoilers: Her arm is broken and she decides to drive a car! She found out a boy got slaughtered and she goes to a distanced swamp with only one other person as protection! She knows she has a stalker and she walks home alone in the dark!)
There were a lot of potential side story lines that I felt could have made the story much richer.

I found that the book was very heavily focused on physical appearance, which did take away a lot from the story itself. Teal is beautiful, Dare is beautiful, Graham is beautiful, Kami is beautiful, everyone is beautiful and attractive, and there would be pages and pages going on about how pretty every character is. This did take away from actual character building for me. The characters turned into nothing more than there appearance. The Tuckers were nothing more than the hot family. There are also a lot of cat calls and just random compliments that are thrown at Teal which seem misplaced and odd. It just felt weird for me and that did distract me from the story.

Overall, Blackout is a strong book in terms of the setting, the ambiance, and the story line, but weak in terms of character building. There was a great accompanying romance, however the dialogue and personas in the book fell flat for me. There is a lack of deep or believable characters. Blackout is recommended to those who wish to read a New Adult with some suspenseful elements.

*I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.*

REVIEW: Confessions of a Paris Potty Trainer

Confessions of a Paris Potty Trainer by Vicki Lesage

Genres: Humour, Memoir
Published: May 2014 by CreateSpace
Pages: 232
Format: E-Book, Paperback
Rating: 6/10 
Description: 

Diapers, tantrums, and French bureaucracy--the crazy life of an American mom in Paris.
Former party girl Vicki trades wine bottles for baby bottles, as this sassy mommy of two navigates the beautiful, yet infuriating, city of Paris.
How does she steer a stroller around piles of dog poop? Or find time for French administration between breastfeeding and business meetings? And will she ever lose the baby weight with croissants staring at her from every street corner?
This hilarious memoir will have you laughing, crying, and wiping up drool right alongside Vicki as she and her ever-patient French husband raise two children in the City of Light.

Confessions of a Paris Potty Trainer is an extremely well-structured and fun memoir that details an American woman living in Paris with her husband and starting a family- a wonderful premise. 

The story of the ups and downs of starting a family and finding an apartment was so great. 

For the most part, I did enjoy the more rambley parts of the novel, where LeSage goes off about something. She is a pretty analytic and a workaholic-type person, so some of stream-of-consciousness sections where she goes off about taxes or systems or something was off-putting. I'm personally not that technical or that inclined to mathematics and what not, so others may have enjoyed her technical rambles more than I personally did, but I digress. 

This memoir reads very much like a story, so if one hasn't read a memoir before, this is a pretty nice transition between fictional stories to real memoirs.

I wish that this book had more detail about the setting, because Paris is a wonderful place. I loved the sections discussing how small everything is (women, apartments, babies, ect.), however, I do wish there was more descriptions of Paris itself. Of course, it is a memoir so that doesn't really take anything away from the story itself.

Her voice is strong and often times, hilarious. I believe she captured the crazy mindset of a very pregnant women perfectly, as well as the American adjusting the a Parisian lifestyle. Her take on life and humans was poignant and funny.

Overall, if you are looking for a memoir encapsulating a woman's life in Paris and her journey to become a mother, this is a great memoir for you. It reads easily, like a story, with plenty of funny accounts to keep it interesting. Recommended.

*I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.*

REVIEW: Dealing With Devils

Dealing With Devils by Pembroke Sinclair

Genres: Paranormal Fantasy, YA, Romance
Published: January 2015 by Booktrope
Pages: 210
Format: E-Book, Paperback
Rating: 8/10 
Description: Dating a demon has its advantages, like helping deliver souls to Hell. Wait...what Katie’s world has been turned upside down. She's fallen for Josh—despite the fact that he’s a demon from Hell. Wes is finally out of her system and her life. Convinced she can change Josh, she sets out to make him a better person, only to find out things aren’t as simple as she’d originally thought. For one thing, Josh has Katie help him deliver souls to Hell, and she kind of likes it. And to top it off, other more powerful demons are battling for her soul, and revelations from the past could change the course of her life forever.

Dealing With Devils is the sequel to The Appeal Of Evil by Pembroke Sinclair, and this follow-up was so great. There will spoilers for the first book! 

This sequel was really unique. Usually when we have a protagonist caught up in a battle between good and evil, she usually chooses good. Katie chooses evil- I think that's really refreshing! In this sequel, we see Katie and the wonderful Josh go about their duties from Hell. We get to meet Lucifer, which was really cool. I hope that we get more Lucifer because I found that even though those scenes were super cool, they were fairly underwhelming. 

There are a lot of really cool discoveries and twists that we make the plot much richer. There is a lot of potential with one of the discoveries! There are definitely lots of elements that make the plot and storyline more exciting and richer than the first book. There is some backstory and legends that are told by Lucifer which was awesome. 

 **(Spoiler: it's that fact that Katie is a reincarnation of Lilith. That's so cool! I can't wait to see her explore the powers, and the pros and cons of being Lilith).** 

Since Wes wasn't in the book that much, and since Katie has made her decision very blatant, there was no love triangle nonsense! Which again, is just very refreshing. I also don't really like Wes so maybe that's why I liked this book that much more. Braden's character underwent a lot of changes for me. He went from just some annoying side character to someone who- what?- is kind of cooler than Josh? The hell hierarchy stuff is also pretty cool.

Overall, Dealing With Devils, was a satisfying sequel with a lot more discoveries and added elements that made the plot much richer than the first book. If the liked the first book, this one will not disappoint!

*I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.*

REVIEW: Spent Part 1

Spent - Part 1 by Elise Holland
Genres: New Adult Romance,
Published: March 2015
Pages: 110
Format: Kindle Edition
Rating: 7.5/10
Description: Luke Richards... the first time I laid eyes on him he was swinging punches at my boyfriend in the MMA ring. The way his glistening muscles writhed and flexed aroused me in placed I never knew existed. A week after I break up with my boyfriend, Luke strolls into my biology class at my college, as if by some divine intervention. He is immediately taken by me, but I can sense he has a dark past, one that rivals even my childhood. The more I probe, the more agitated he gets. As I spend more time with him, my own repressed memories start resurfacing. Will he finally be the one to release me from my painful past? Or will his demons catch up to him and bring us both down?SPENT - Part 1 is the beginning of an exciting New Adult, MMA Series from author Elise Holland.

Spent was a such a great new adult romance book! It was a super fast read with a lot of characterization and a super hot romance. I was left needing WAY more! WHERE IS PART TWO?

Tasha was an okay protagonist. She was relateable and her actions are very believable. However, she is definitely the most boring character in comparison to the other fantastic characters this book has. Luke was so hot and gentle and sweet and funny and he was a perfect choice for a love interest. Cameron was so sassy and clever and definitely brought some hilarious comic relief. I love the unique relationship with this English teacher and a young 21 year old Tasha. It's fairly rare and I liked that sort of big sister dynamic between them. I would like to see more of them together! The writing was good. It was humorous when it needed to be, I loved the little pop culture references with FMA, and all of the great innuendos. Spent reads very easily and smoothly. The descriptions are really and vivid, whether did be a boxing match, a saucy scene, or even Twizzlers. It was fantastic.

The story itself was simple but interesting enough. I like the University setting and all the scenes with the fighting matches.

The romance was so steamy and great. I love the contrast between Luke's love scenes and Derricks. I love how one can definitely see how conditioned Tasha is to being abused and neglected and now happy she is to have Luke. I need more please!

*I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.*

REVIEW: Orange Is The New Black

Orange Is The New Black by Piper Kerman
Genres: Memoir, Adult, Non-Fiction, Crime
Published: April 6 2010 by Spiegel & Grau
Pages: 298
Format: Audiobook/Hardback
Rating: 8/10
Description: With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187–424 — one of the millions of people who disappear “down the rabbit hole” of the American penal system. From her first strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with small tokens of generosity, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Kerman’s story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison—why it is we lock so many away and what happens to them when they’re there.

Orange Is The New Black is definitely one of my favorite shows, so it was simply common sense for me to pick up the book that tells the story of the real origins behind the show. I ended up listening to the audio book, which unfortunately, wasn't narrated by Piper Kerman or Piper Chapman, however the narrator. Cassandra Campbell, did do an excellent job portraying Piper Kerman. 

My main problem going into the book was that I expected it to be exactly like the show. For the first half of this audiobook, I spent most of the time comparing and contrasting the show versus the book. This definitely did not enhance my experience by any stretch of the imagination. The names and characters of the book versus the show are completely different and so is the bulk of the story line. Larry isn't a terrible annoyance in the book, for one. However, after letting go of the show, the book did get better for me. 

Prison, for many readers, is probably a strange and dark subject that one doesn't really know too much about. I was enlightened with facts and procedures that the American system undergoes. It was very fascinating. It was so intriguing to take an inside look at the lives of prisoners and to hear their stories and their everyday routines. However, this "routine" is probably the greatest downfall of the book. Don't get me wrong, this book was a wonderful account of Kerman's experiences and her thoughts and ideas about life and the prison system was amazing. However, there was a large portion of this memoir that was just a same things, over and over. Kerman makes it clear that prison is pretty much just routine: shower, food, eat, visits, contraband, repeat. While I did not expect an account of prison to be non-stop action, there were some unnecessary portions that simply felt redundant. The characters were an aspect that was a high point in the novel. Many of the characters in this book were uproariously hilarious people and I love hearing about them. 

Kerman is an upfront and honest person. She knows that she was tremendously privileged to be a white, blonde, attractive woman, and thus the consequences of her actions were, to some degree, lessened. She knows that she is extremely blessed to come from a wealthy family so that her stay at prison could be somewhat accommodated in terms of money, and she has a very supportive following of friends and family. She is very vocal and honest about these aspects of her life. She admits that much of her life was extremely easy. She may not be the most sympathetic protagonist, but she is an honest one and that is why I liked her voice so much. I love how she became known as the book girl, who had copious amounts of books sent for her, and how she tried to recommend books to other prisoners. I loved how she did use her wealth for good; helping new prisoners and getting gifts for her closer friends. I loved how she genuinely did form friendships in this unlikely setting. 

Orange is the New Black is an eye-opening memoir about the incarnation system in the US, told from the personal perspective of an intelligent woman. It definitely gives the reader an idea of what life is behind bars in America. I would say that it is lackluster compared to the show, but the show is just a crazy ride that is (a little bit) far removed from reality. I do prefer the show, but I don't think that it is far to compare them to one another. It was a great audiobook experience, and I would definitely reccomend it fans of the show, or for anyone who is interested in any of the aforementioned topics.

REVIEW: The Appeal of Evil

The Appeal of Evil by Pembroke Sinclair

Genres: Paranormal Fantasy, YA, Romance
Published: January 2014 by Booktrope Editions
Pages: 210
Format: E-Book, Paperback
Rating: 6/10 
Description: Katie, a senior in high school, is torn between loving the "good" guy, her childhood friend Wes who makes promises he doesn't keep and abandons her when she needs him the most, and the "bad" guy, the new kid at school Josh who is also a real demon from Hell. Katie wants someone who pays attention to her and puts her first, but what is she willing to give up to find him?

The Appeal of Evil is a great, fast-paced paranormal romance! It reads super easily. Although Evil doesn't have too much action, there was just enough of character building to keep it interesting.

I felt like there was too much of an instant romance, especially in the beginning. The beginning is, in my opinion, the weakest part of the book. It was too romance-heavy, too quickly. There was a lot of telling instead of showing in the beginning part, which I understand because there were a lot of introductions made, but I felt like it was too expository in that sense. I also found faults in how the author tried to portray Wes. I didn't feel any real emotion or feelings of affection from him. The only times I felt like Wes actually cared about Katie was when Katie would state, "I know he cares for me," or the like. I know this is to keep his stoic and the remain true to his duties as a Praesul, but his character simply fell flat for me. 

I am pretty much a huge fan of the the "bad-boy" trope, so of course I was rooting for Josh the whole time. I guess I did sort of got what I wanted in the end, but I really hope that Josh goes through more character development in future installments as I love his character. Also, for some reason I envisioned him with a British accent the whole time? Odd, however, I did enjoy his character all the more.

The world-building was mediocre. It was super interesting, especially the brief adventure into Hell, however, for the most part, there was little-to-no world building. This is forgivable because it is a romance and an urban fantasy but I really do hope we get to explore more into the world of Praesul and Demons in future books.

Overall, it wasn't a perfect read at all, but it is a quick, paranormal fantasy that was simply a fun ride! There is a bit of action and some romantic intrigue to keep the story super interesting. Definietly recommended for those looking for a quick, fun read!

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins because of the urban fantasy setting and the romance. Also, there is a bad-boy demon in which our protagonist falls for (and Kaiden has a British accent)!

*I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.*