Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyers

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. RATING: 4 STARS**** The classic fairy tale like you've never heard before. A race of Lunar people, cyborgs, and androids make this an absolutely fun and unique read. Thankfully absent is the meek young lady hidden in her step-sisters shadows. Cinder has smarts and strength she is after all a great mechanic?
On the final page I was torn between slamming the book shut and throwing it, or gently setting it aside and jumping online to do a price check on the rest of the series. I opted for setting it aside since a friend was kind enough to borrow it to me. :) I am hooked, line and sinker.

Review: Two Parts Bloody Murder (Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries, #4) by Jen J. Danna, Ann Vanderlaan

Prohibition was a time of clandestine excess--short skirts, drinking, dancing . . . and death. But a murder committed so many years ago still has the power to reverberate decades later with deadly consequences. It's a double surprise for Trooper Leigh Abbott as she investigates a cold case and discovers two murder victims in a historic nineteenth-century building. Together with forensic anthropologist Matt Lowell and medical examiner Dr. Edward Rowe, she uncovers the secrets of a long-forgotten, Prohibition-era speakeasy in the same building. But when the two victims are discovered to be relatives--their deaths separated by over eighty years--the case deepens, and suddenly the speakeasy is revealed as ground zero for a cascade of crimes through the decades. When a murder committed nearly forty years ago comes under fresh scrutiny, the team realizes that an innocent man was wrongly imprisoned and the real murderer is still at large. Now they must solve three murders spanning over eighty years if they hope to set a wronged man free. REVIEW: 5 STARS ***** This is not a good read, it's a GREAT read! Loved it! Enjoyed the perfect balance of science and actual story telling. I'm afraid some authors rely too much on graphs and illustrations and by the time you understand them you've forgotten what you were reading about in the first place. You won't find that to be the case here though. A lot of research went into the writing of this book and it shows. Peppered with interesting facts pertaining to the prohibition era and the making of bootleg liquor the authors do a superb job at really immersing you into another world. This book is number four in a series. I have not read the others (but definitely plan too now.) I can say this book does stand up well on its own. Only once was a previous case mentioned but enough information was given so I didn't feel like I was missing anything. So bottom line, if you can get your hands on any of the four, do it because reading them in order doesn't appear to be a necessity. (Unless like me you are practically OCD about it, in which case you've already ordered the other three lol) REVIEW FROM NICOLE