Wonder - The Books of Marvella #2 (Travis Thrasher)

Release Date: January 1st 2015

Synopsis:  
As the town of Appleton is rocked by the death of a teenager, the high school year begins under a dark shadow. Brandon continues to pursue Marvel while trying to discover what she believes will happen to her. It's easy to fall more in love with her. It's easy to forget she thinks God told her she will have to sacrifice herself to save others. But Brandon can't forget about the shapeless evil that seems to watch him around corners and seep through the streets of his town. Strange things start to occur to Brandon. He starts looking for clues about the dead student, thinking this might be related to whatever evil Marvel is talking about. He also continues to battle against the guys picking on a nerdy senior named Seth Belcher. Marvel falls in love with Brandon, and he truly accepts her faith even though he doesn't understand what to make of it. Something is growing in the darkness. Something is coming. Will Brandon be able to stand up against the malice that draws ever closer? Will he be able to save Marvel from the horrors to come?

Review:
I got this ebook from Tyndale House Publishers, Inc through Netgalley in return of an honest review.
So, first of all, I didn't realise this was the second book in a series. But, although I am kind of bummed about the fact that I skipped book 1, Marvelous, that doesn't mean that I could enjoy this one. And, boy, did I!
So, this was a YA contemporary-ish, mystery-ish book, yet, to me, it read like a fantasy book, mostly because of the writing and the setting.
It had an aura of, well, wonder and magic constantly cast upon it and I couldn't help but expect some kind of magical revelation or miraculous ending. It was honestly something like a real-life fairytale-esque story.
I absolutely loved the set of characters Travis Thrasher created. Marvel was the flawed yet perfect girl, the one we can only hope will accept her place in the world in the future, and I loved her for that. Also, Brandon was our main character, the one we can't help but root for because he was such a good guy, trying to save his friends and himself from uncertain futures. I really liked the development of their relationship between these two characters in this book, and I would have absolutely loved to have seen the way it all started in the previous volume.
All of the other characters were very well developed and most of them were incredibly hateful and dislikable, anywhere from high school mean girl to murderous drug-dealers.
Another thing I wasn't expecting and that really contributed to how much I liked it was the diversity. You can just tell this comes from a man who is used to writing multiple genres, very different from each other. Wonder was mixture of magical romantic moments under the stars and murder investigations, obsessed mean ex-girlfriends and fight clubs.
All I have left to say is that this completely grabbed me from the first page and my heart was racing until the end, to the point where I stayed up until 4 a.m. to finish the book.I need the next one in my hands now... that ending didn't give me the closure I was hoping for... in a good way. I might die until the next one, just wondering what will become of Marvel and Brandon and Devon and Artie and Carlos and even the record store...
This is an author I really want to support, so I will buy his books as soon as it is humanly possible for me to do so.

UPDATE: Read my review of Book 1 Marvelous here.

A Girl's Guide to Life (Michelle Herman, Glen Holland - Illustrations)

Synopsis:  
A Girl's Guide to Life is a timeless book of warm and sensible advice for young girls, originally written by a mother for her own eight-year-old daughter. From compassion and empathy through self-expression and creativity, from thoughtfulness and helpfulness and good deeds through gratitude and heartfelt apology, from the incomparable joys of friendship to the importance of learning how and when to say no, this little book offers wise counsel that will be of use for many years to come.

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review.
I'm going to be honest: I downloaded this book a bit on a whim, mostly because the cover was so beautiful.
The concept of this book and the story behind it, how it came to be, was actually really heartwarming, and I wish I had had something like this to read when I was younger. It accommodates all the things we've been told all our lives and makes them clear, in a way that is so important for young girls to read, but not limited to it. I believe every young child should read and follow these motherly advices and, as teenagers or adults, we can read this and look back, remember how our lives can become full and honest and rich.
In my opinion, this was an extremely sweet, heartfelt, inspiring and rereadable book that can help you at any age, no matter how many times you have heard the things it says before.
I desperately want a physical copy of this book that I can pass down to my future children, so they can take from it everything I certainly did.

A Christmas Horror Story (Sebastian Gregory)

Synopsis:  
On the night before Christmas, lock the doors to the house…
Forget the jolly old man in his red, big-buttoned suit. Because another creature is up on the roof, preparing for his annual visit to little children everywhere.With a belt of knives round his waist, a writhing bag on his back and a Santa-sized appetite, he’s a little…different to the St Nick you might be expecting. And you can leave out all the carrots and mince pies you like…but it’s you he’s after. A horrid Christmas to all, and a terrible night.Every white Christmas has a dark side. Don’t miss A Christmas Horror Story, the gruesomely festive new story from Sebastian Gregory.

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review.
This is not the first book I read by this author, so I thought I knew what I was getting into... (I mean, after The Boy in the Cemetery I honestly believed Sebastian Gregory's stories wouldn't surprise me and creep the hell out of me anymore).
Well, want to guess how wrong I was?
Sebastian Gregory's writing and storytelling style never fails to amaze me and this was no exception. This was straight up christmas horror and I would love to see this turn into a Tim Burton movie. I think it would be one of those movies you watch on repeat every christmas to scare your little siblings. (How is this not happening yet?)
From page one until that very last moment in gave me chills and I kept looking out the window to see the shadows pass. I believe what made this just the right amount of scary and fun was the way the different time periods were weaved together, keeping us guessing and gasping at the sound of the bells.
I really enjoyed reading about the main characters, Katy, Emily and Jake, and I kept rooting for them, all the way, even though my heart was telling me nothing I could say or hope for could give this a happy ending.
On that note, that ending left me there just wanting to cry and sob and re read it and threw my phone at the wall, it was just so heartbreaking and wonderful, just like the entire story.
After all this, this book was so different from every other christmas story that it's hard to explain why you should read it, but you definitely should!
I think Sebastian Gregory is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors and I desperately want more. When given the chance, I will read everything that man writes and you probably should, too.

On the night before Christmas, lock the doors to the house

For a creature is stirring, sly as a mouse,

He skulks on the roof, down the chimney with care,

Keep the fire burning for the Child Eater's here. ...

He has a thin face and little round belly,

Slurping down children as if they were jelly

Then out on the lawn there'll arise such a clatter.

Parents spring from the bed to see what is the matter.

Away to the window they'll fly like a flash.

Tear open the shutters and throw up the sash

The Child Eater springs to his feet, gives them a whistle,

And disappears into the woods and the thistle.

Until next year it drives out of sigh,

A horrid Christmas to all, and a terrible night.

Strong Female Protagonist (Brennan Lee Mulligan and Molly Ostertag - Illustrations)

Synopsis:  
With superstrength and invulnerability, Alison Green used to be one of the most powerful superheroes around.
Fighting crime with other teenagers under the alter ego Mega Girl was fun — until an encounter with Menace, her mind-reading arch enemy, showed her evidence of a sinister conspiracy, and suddenly battling giant robots didn't seem so important.
Now Alison is going to college and trying to find ways to help the world while still getting to class on time. It's impossible to escape the past, however, and everyone has their own idea of what it means to be a hero....
After a phenomenal success on Kickstarter, Brennan Lee Mulligan and Molly Ostertag bring their popular webcomic into print, collecting the first four issues, as well as some all-new, full-color pages!

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review. 
This was so different than what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be a comedic story of an ex-superhero trying to lead a normal life... and, in a way, I guess it was, but it was also so much more than that.
In Strong Female Protagonist we meet Alison (a.k.a. Mega Girl), a girl that is struggling with the concept of 'Superhero'. To me, she was exactly that, a very good female character I really enjoyed reading about. I immediately felt a connection with her and it made me feel so... I don't know, proud, maybe. It was a pleasure to meet a character like Alison.
She and all the other character came alive in this book like I'd never seen before. They weren't, in my opinion, your typical superheroes, they were just as messed up and confused as everyone else, and Alison helped us understand what that means.
Some parts of the story were actually very inspiring: these people with abilities we dream of having are trying to do good things in unconventional ways and it made me want to do whatever I can to match their actions (Feral, I'm looking at you!)Also, don't be fooled. I found the story to be very emotional at times and that was probably my favourite part in the whole thing. On that note, I consider chapter four, Buster the superdog, one of the best character backstory expositions I have ever encountered.
As for the art, I found it so sweet but it went extremely well with feel of the story and all of its characters. I was spot-on and those coloured pages at the end... cherry on top of a great graphic novel!
Lastly, the little comments at the end of each page gave this comic the comedic aspects I was expecting, on top of nerdy references, amazing art, wonderful character development and inspirational-funny dialogue.
I believe this should be read by everyone and I can only say this is a feminist (people hate that word, but here it is) nerd's dream. You can read Alison's adventures online at Strong Female Protagonist, and I can't wait to keep doing so.

Ed Undead: The Chronicles of a Teenage Zombie (Edward Kent)

Synopsis:  
An unknown virus has turned most of the world into flesh eating zombies, and one teenager, Ed Kirk, has contracted it, but it is working through him slowly and he doesn’t know why. He finds his girlfriend, Lisa Jane, and together they fight to get out of their small town and seek help, meeting up with some strangers along the way. Will they be friends or foe? At the same time, they are being pursued by a dark force unknown to them. They must try to find help or a cure before Ed completely turns.

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review. 
It seems that this will be the year of zombies for me. I don't think I ever particularly cared about them until this year, when I read Zombicorn by John Green and saw REC3 (I recommend it to anyone who would appreciate a cheesy, violent spanish movie about a disease that turns people into flesh eating monsters from Hell).
This was such a fast-paced survival story set in a world where a plague as turn almost everyone into zombies. The main character, Ed, is slowly turning into one and he's fighting, alongside his girlfriend, to find a cure for his condition. In my opinion, he was a really cute character, and it was a pleasure to read from his point of view. But he also felt a bit unrealistic at times, like maybe he was too perfect, too much of a good guy.
I did love his relationship with Lisa, his girlfriend. You could really feel the love they had for each other, and nothing could keep them apart, not even (partial) death. Overall, it was kind of cheesy, but just enough that it didn't make me hate it and gave the story the cute moments and pauses it sometimes needed.The zombies they run into in their journey were people they once knew and the flash backs Ed gets at times really show the realness of the situation and it all felt very personal and emotional. It truly gave this story another side to look into: the side that breaks your heart when you think 'What if I was in this situation?' It was so moving and sad, and it might have been my favourite part about Ed Undead and the one I don't feel there's anything negative to point out. It just shows how a teenager would see this situation and deal with everything he knew gone.
I would have liked to get to know a bit more about some of the side characters, like the mother and daughter they run into. Sometimes I forgot they were there because everything kind of revolved around Ed and Lisa.
Also, Ed's sister and father really got to my nerves, but that is not even a bad thing, it was exactly like I felt you were supposed to feel about them and I think the author did that very well.
Finally, I absolutely loved the ending. I wasn't expecting it at all, but I feel like I should have. It caught me by surprise and left me there wishing I had the next book in my hands.
I will definitely be reading Dead Like Me, because this book raised so many questions that were left unanswered. Overall completely recommend it, especially to a younger public.