The Great Book Cull

I'm currently on a mission... a mission that will take years to complete and will probably never be fully complete. As a reader we constantly obtain new books, so when it's time to get rid of some, it seems like for every one book I give away I acquire ten more. This isn't a bad thing, but it's hurting my Kindle storage. I've been trying to cull some of the Kindle titles that I have acquired. I am a firm believer of DNFing so I'm getting rid of books that are both physical and Kindle freebies that have made my way into my Kindle.

BOOK One: Purging My Physical Bookshelf

Miracles Happen by Mary Kay Ash

DNF

Mary Kay is a very prolific woman. She's one of the most successful business women in the world and her rise to fame in a world dominated by men set her apart from a lot of women. Mary Kay is the type of woman who always reached for the stars and wanted to do more than what was possible. She's a real inspiration and many women have careers due to her brilliant platform and marketing plan. She's an amazing woman, but she is not a writer. She is a time hopper-which isn't a good thing to be as a memoir writer. One second she's chronicling her childhood and the next she's talking about the start of her business. It's not smart formatting and it really made me uninterested. I didn't finish reading MK's memoir mainly due the poor writing as well as my complete lack of interest. I just don't find myself interested in learning more about MK than what I can find from her Wikipedia page. Maybe memoirs just aren't for me, but I don't think that's true because I absolutely love Night by Elie Wiesel. I know many people are motivated by MK and her brilliant ideas, but these ideas are probably best watched in a documentary than in a memoir. I'll be donating this to a used bookstore in hopes of this impacting a woman who needs it.


Cover Thoughts: This book is very pink. Incredibly pink. As Mary Kay liked to say, "Think pink," and boy did she love pink.


BOOK Two: Another Werewolf Bites the Bullet

Prince of Wolves by Quinn Loftis

DNF
I'm not planning to continue with this novel or this series. I've seen mixed reviews and even done research on later books in the series to see what people thought and I decided to read the first couple of chapters to decide whether I would continue or not. This series is just not for me- the characters are childish. The mythology and writing was focused on providing infodumps randomly submerged with everyday thoughts (which is a horrible idea). One second someone is in a limo and the next I'm reading a WHOLE freaking encyclopedia explanation on wolves in this universe. I'm sure others will love this novel to pieces, but I don't think I'll be one of them.
Cover Thoughts: The cover is really pretty!


BOOK Three: Racist and Offensive to Christianity Another Shitty Vampire Novel

Turned by Morgan Rice

NOT INTERESTED
Read to page 17/192 (10%)
"Looking out at the sea of new faces, she felt alone. Not because she was the only white girl—she actually preferred that. Some of her closest friends at other schools had been black, Spanish, Asian, Indian—and some of her meanest frenemies had been white."

WHAT THE FUCK? This came out in 2011 and I get that these kinds of things were probably said by a lot of these Mary Sue losers that trotted around on every available book masquerading around as a protagonist, but these type of comments are just so offensive. Every Mary Sue wants to surround themselves in diversity, but none of them actually show any signs of befriending someone with a diverse background. If she wasn't so worried about color, then why is the first chapter filled with a lot of subtle shaming toward low-income areas with minorities? Not only is this offensive and an obnoxious character trait, but she also is the type of girl who isn't "beautiful in comparison to other girls... but there was something about her that made people look twice... she knew she was different". I wish that was me making fun of a cliched over-used trope, but these lines are literally in the first chapter.

Maybe I'm just overthinking it, but these little comments aren't okay and have never been okay. When I was younger I probably would've overlooked these comments, but I'm not who I was when I was younger and this is not okay. At least not for me. I won't be reading this novel. But this is free on Amazon, so you decide if it's for you!


Side Note: I went and read the synopsis for every book in this series and a few reviews. It is literally the same regurgitated story about the Mary Sue and her lover boy going back in time to find her father. Guess who her father is: JESUS. Y'all, I can't stop laughing and I'm also offended because I'm a Christian, but this is just so funny. Her mom is Mary Magdalene and her father is Jesus... I CAN'T. Why did she think this was a good idea or a good plot? OMG someone get this woman a sense of writing, editing, and plotting.

 
Cover Thoughts: This cover is ugly as hell.

 
BOOK Four: I Finished This One, But I Won't Finish The Rest in the Box Set

Beautiful Demons by Sarra Cannon

First in the Peachville High Demons series

1.25 stars

I literally just finished this book less than an hour ago and I can't remember the girl's name. Her name is Harper (thanks, GR) and she finds herself in Shadowford Home after multiple foster homes go awry. Harper finds herself in Peachville, a town where everyone is obsessed with the high school cheerleaders. This book is incredibly short. So short that I didn't even DNF it because I read it in less than an hour. It's not an incredibly good story.


The writing in this novel isn't horrible, which is surprising since this is a Kindle freebie. It's very simple and it reads like a HP fanfiction that isn't good, but you don't want to stop reading because somehow you found yourself invested in this drivel.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 2

Harper is forgettable. This whole novel is forgettable. I'm already forgetting and I just finished it because it's not worth remembering, so my brain is slowly kicking it out for better things. (This is why I'm writing the review right after finishing it.) I don't care about Harper. I think she's an idiot. She's too easily swayed and she's a cardboard that has no personality. I DON'T CARE why she is a Prima or what the Prima is because she is no ballerina (I'm just going to stop). Anyway... this character is so underdeveloped that I like Bella Swan more. That's saying something.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 1

Brooding love interest that she shoves her tongue into after knowing for only a brief time. Then she mysteriously forgets him and can only focus on the sexy hot quarterback who hated her prior to one of the cheerleaders dying. They both suck and who cares who she picks because they are irrelevant idiots.


Swoon Worthy Scale: Broody Boy- 1 Douche Canoe-1

The Villain- Wow. (view spoiler) This is just bad writing and character development.

Villain Scale: 1

Also there's a really offensive comment:
"This town is very... progressive. Black lady sheriff. Asian woman mayor. Lots of minority women in charge. All very beautiful."
I get that the author is trying to hint at these women who would probably be oppressed in a male dominated society have powers and gain high positions, but it pisses me off that only successful women can have magical powers. Please, women don't need magic to be bad ass and successful in life.


Character Scale: 1

I have a box set of the first three books, but I won't be continuing with this series. It's just not worth the cliches and undeveloped and forgettable characters. It's quick and easy to read, but that doesn't mean that it should be read by everybody. If you're interested in YA paranormal romance that answers no questions and forces you to pick up the sequels then this is for you.


Plotastic Scale: 1.5

Cover Thoughts: I mean it's okay, but it's as cliche as everything in this novel.

 

 
 BOOK Five: A Book I Got For Review That I Feel Bad About Loathing

Bloodspell by Amalie Howard

First in the Cruentus Curse series

1 star
DNF @34%

Well, I tried... I really did. I received this book for review and I was excited because it's been on my TBR shelf for a long time, but this book stuck in the 2011 Twilight craze. It's only difference is that it wants witches to be the defining factor. I will admit that this type of witchcraft is interesting- blood being the source of the magic. That was probably the only interesting thing about this novel. It fell incredibly flat for me.


The Good Lurking Inside a Not-So Good Novel:
-The lore was very promising. I didn't get all the information behind it, but there were some very strong ideas.


Problems I had with Bloodspell:
-The first chapter opens up with "preppy" white boys verbally abuse Victoria by calling her a slut. WHY: This bothers me because it's a blatant plot device to show how Victoria doesn't fit in and how the boys at this school don't see how much of a special snowflake she is.
-CLICHES: Talking cats who help witches, vampires that are like Edward, heroines like Bella,

Only this cat isn't my spirit animal so I don't care about what it has to say.
-They both happen to be piano prodigies. Edward Christian, are you going to compose a song for Bella Victoria?
-Christian has Edward Cullen mood swings.

TO

IN TWO PAGES.
-TWILIGHT literally this has to be a Twilight fanfiction.
"You're not human." It was not a question.
"No."
"You're a vampire."
"Yes."
This is an actual scene from the book. I just can't.

-Quotes like this: "I am not that boy anymore. I'm not him. This body is not alive. It's a dead monster that steals life from others."

More cliche bullshit.
-"I hate you" to "I love you" in 10 pages.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 1
Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: LOL
Swoon Worthy Scale: LOL
Character Scale: 1
Plotastic Scale: 1

I didn't realize how much I really didn't like this book until I typed this review after reading all my notes. This book sucks. I'm sad about it because I got this from the publisher, but I am not into Twilight anymore so this isn't the book for me. If I want to read Twilight, I will. I don't need a fanfiction with witches.


Cover Thoughts: Everything about this cover is just awkward. The font, the trimming, the ugly masquerade mask, the dress, and the writing just looks weirdly placed.

Review provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

All these covers have people on them. I don't know if this is a pattern. If so, then maybe I should steer clear from close up faces and ugly dresses with masks.

Have you read any of these books? What were your thoughts? Did you like them? Hate them? Let me know down below in the comments.