Savourybooks

Hi guys,

I've been blogging for almost 3 months now and i have been enjoying it lately so I now have the privilege of having a BookDepository Affiliate ID. I hope you guys will benefit from this, as I will be doing giveaways and giving out random prizes for people that use my ID. Please support it and if you do comment down below so I can thank you.

http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=ryansbooks

Thanks guys! 

DISCLAIMER: I was sent this ARC in return for an honest review. Ryan 2014.

Meet 14-year-old Sean Malone. He has an IQ above 200, a full-ride scholarship to one of the country’s top universities, and more than one million dollars from his winning streak on Jeopardy. However, Sean wishes he could just be normal.

But his life is anything but normal. The US government manipulates him, using him as a codebreaker in pursuit of a drug lord and killing innocent people along the way. 

For reasons related to his personal security, Sean finds himself in Rome, building a new life under a new name, abandoning academics, and hiding his genius from everyone. When he’s 18 he falls in love. The thrills begin again when he learns that his girlfriend is critically ill and it’s up to him to use his intellect to find a cure, a battle pitting him against a multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical company and the demons of his past. 

Elixir is a story about identity, secrets, and above all, love

 

Such a good blurb, seriously, I love it, I fell in love with it.

Sean Malone is a character I have dreamt about over and over again since reading about the first half of the book. Ted Galdi's debut novel is set to be a massive seller in the US and hopefully a big seller over here in the UK.

I loved the main plot and how it develops, Sean and Natasha have a cool little fling that develops and flourishes throughout the book and the scene in Rome just seems too mysterious and exciting. Thrillers aren't usually my type of books but the right one can make me click and read, this was one of them.

The flaws....

It wayyy too slow at the beginning, I wish it would pick up faster just to make it an easier read, also the dialogue in some places feels long winded and long. Furthermore the writing in it wasn't 10/10 it was more like a 7/10 it wasn't great, borderline simple but hey, simplicity can be complexity.

Overall...

Judging that this is Mr. Galdi's first novel I must say it's a well thought story and the plot, character and overall ambiance is great. I can tell that he thought this through that he is a very intelligent man. I'm giving it four stars because I still have pages to read and I'm really hoping I'll enjoy it more to give it a five star recommendation status.

I'll leave you with a quote from moi about this book:

"Now is the best time to be a YA and to read YA..."

Anyways, 

R.

Saint Augustine

First Impressions…

Very cool and laid back layout (despite the contents page), also the use of the black-and-white snapshot pictures really helped me picture the moment. The book smelt really good and the font was easy on the eye :)

The shizzle

Brilliant book from start to finish, Sean Mortimer’s writing expertise has caused me to fall in love with biography’s (even though I still have only read one!) the eye-catching and sometimes weird photos give the book a certain edge from other books also the divisional chapters of his life are separated well, as well as the name of each chapter. Furthermore the sub-titles portrayed in each chapter provide structure and meaning to the story.

Thoughts

Basically, this book isn’t just about his life and although it may not be the most engaging book it is definitely the most inspirational and heart-warming, it teaches us valuable lessons, do’s and don’t’s and most importantly how to have fun. It may not be a book for everyone but there is no harm in trying something new and btw (I’m so hip!) there is no synopsis or summary because personally you can perceive it the way you want to.

Sooooo…

Go ahead and try it; it is a wonderful story about a wonderful life.

“His life story should be read by anyone who wants to live by what they love.”

 

This book gave me a whole new insight into reading. It was like a cake that every time you took a slice you dived into more layers that you never knew could or would be there. The protagonist is a boy who has been under the impression that his uncle is his most favourite person in the world, this impression is given by his greedy and unconcerned parents; why? His uncle is rich and old, that means inheritance and money, you know what they say; time is money and in this case the uncle hasn’t got much time and thus the greedy parents can get more money. Less time=more money.

The main story, on a scale of 1 to chocolate is like a 7.5, it’s well structured and written but it lacks depth, we don’t understand many things like the family history and although the protagonist portrays various stories about encounters with his uncle the family picture is still just a blur in my mind nevertheless the story is very good and the stories and characters are well developed to form a real connection with them.

Alton, our main character is very interesting. He displays a teenager that doesn’t understand life completely, his illusion of his uncle shapes him into a boy that has been told to love someone because he has money but upon meeting his uncle he discovers the real uncle; Trapp, this causes Alton to discover him as a person that he likes for real not just as an act. Toni is a supposed crazy freak according to his family (again) but Alton begins to like her…a lot, a friendship forms between them and they soon find themselves between Alton’s best friend but do they really care?. Alton’s sister Leslie seems like the only one who truly knows herself; she is the curious and smart little sister that gets herself involved with Alton’s bridge playing new obsession, her personality allows her to become an important character; the listener towards Alton’s various comments and stories about bridge.

Louis Sachar took a massive risk writing a book on bridge for teens, who was going to read it? If you’re reading Sachar for the first time then this book should not be the first one you read; you won’t understand his style unless you read “Holes” first.

This story covers many subjects from: the importance of money, love, family life, friends and bridge. I suggest you give this book a go if you’re willing to delve into a new style and read something out of your comfort zone. 

I was beginning to get concerned by falling pianos.

The Book Thief is a novel by Australian author Markus Zusak.
Narrated by Death, the book is set in Nazi Germany, a place and time when the narrator notes he was extremely busy. It describes a young girl’s relationship with her foster parents, the other residents of their neighborhood, and a young Jewish man who hides in her home during the escalation of World War II.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book mainly because of the connection I had with the characters, it was truly an emotional book (that May or may not have brought a tear to my eye) and one that has topped my best book chart beating competition like TFiOS and other John Green books as well as other YA books by other various authors.

This book gets in very deep and although it may seem like it starts off slow, don’t give up on it because it picks up speed very quickly, I found that I soon became a fan of the main character due to her innocence and honesty and that I also became a fan of her foster father; I won’t reveal any names for the sake of surprise however do not hate the mother, she is quite the stubborn one, but believe me.

I prefer stories told by the people themselves e.g. TFiOS but The Book Thief is an exception “death” really tells the story well and sometimes it seems as if the main character herself is speaking, Markus really put effort into making this book incredibly enjoyable to read, furthermore the supporting characters provide a reality to the story that makes it so real and alive.

Exploring the world of war and especially a subject like the Holocaust is dangerous, it is almost reserved for only the most elite of writers and the most intricate and delicate brains but Markus really got it right from start to end, he didn’t go deep enough to make it sound insulting but neither did he not go deep enough to make it sound boring and stereotypical.

I did say the story starts off slow but it doesn’t mean it starts boring, it almost dives straight into the climax with the main character leaving her Mum for a foster family at the same time her brother dies on a train, very sad but also climatic but there is a better climatic moment later on in the book. Once you delve into the book for another few 100 pages you’ll see that the book is very touching and also personal, regarding her life and the lives of people around her, it may seem pointless to read a book about someone who lives a hard life but it’s by what she does with her life that makes the difference, as I’ve said before it’s the supporting characters that give the book character.

I don’t want to go too deep or else I will spoil everything in the book and for some people ruining it will ruin their lives so I’ll just give my thoughts:

– it’s well written and covers many personal subjects that touch the reader.
– super emotional
– well structured
– quite cheap for a paperback, some retail for £5
– it is a long book so be prepared for some long nights and many tears….

So yeah, this book is incredible so I recommend it 10/10 for anyone considering it.