Project 17 by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Rumored to be the place that perfected the lobotomy, Danvers State Hospital, abandoned and possibly haunted, is about to be torn down. Before that happens, though, six teenagers who aren't the closest of friends decide to break into the place and film a movie. For Derik, it is a chance to do something with his life other than flip burgers at his family's diner. For Mimi, it is a way to atone for the past. For Liza, it is something to do other than school work. For Chet, it's a chance to get out of the house for a night without suffering through his alcoholic dad's rants. For Tony and Greta, it is a chance to start their careers in the filming business.

Everyone has their own reason for going. But everyone has the same reason for wanting to leave- the place is haunted by spirits. Including, a patient whose journal they find and must help.

Even though it was a short read, I still consider myself breaking a personal record in finishing this book in a total of two days. I could not put it down. Even when I went out with my mom, I was trying to read the print with virtually no light. It creeped me out. Oh my goddess it creeped me out. By the end, I was stiff as my dog when she gets cold and goes into her little ball. I loved the book and, though I never re-read books in the interest of reading more books, I would definitely have to put this on my list of novels to reread later on. Loved it so much it officially got a:

Ninth Grade Slays by Heather Brewer

If middle school sucked for Vlad then high school is a real drain. With bullies threatening him, his worrying over having messed up with Meredith, and his best friend's constantly being absent for other friends, Vlad isn't having the best time in ninth grade. He can't wait to go to Siberia with his uncle Otis to learn from an ancient vampire.

Vlad is a wimp. He can be really annoying a lot of time with his crying and whining. Not that he doesn't have anything to cry about with his parents being dead and all but seriously? Every freaking time the subject came up he "fought back tears". Some of the stuff could have been very touching if he didn't cry for 3/4 of the book.

I had to seriously make myself finish this book. I already have the next two books in the series and I want to figure out what happens but really... I don't know. I kind of want to find out what happens and I heard the books get better but...

Well I could go on forever about how this book sucked but someone else already took the words out of my keyboard when I went searching for other reviews on this book. Here's the link: Opinionated Me?

So, here's my review for the book:

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Tom lives with his mother and crippled sister Laura in a tenements in the 1930s. His mother is always in a reverie about her old days where she had seventeen gentlemen callers with the false hope that shy Laura will find a gentlemen caller to marry.

We just finished reading this play for school. I really enjoyed it. Though some of the wording seems to go on for a while, it was lovely all the same. I liked the story and Laura was a likeable character while you can sympathize with Tom's need to to escape. I loved the symbollism with light and fire escapes.
Overall it's a good quick read if you like to read plays.

I give this play:

Book Trailer for The Dead-Tossed Waves

Hey guys. I love watching book trailers, they get me so excited for the idea of the book. Part of the reason why I read Hate List was because of the beautiful book trailer.

So, I was looking through Youtube and I came across this. The book trailer for the Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan. I don't know if I should read it. I really liked the Forest of Hands and Teeth but I don't want the same disappointment at the end. For those who read the book, you know what I'm talking about.

So here it is. I must say the trailer is making me lean more to reading the book. Does anyone suggest that I do or don't. The book trailer is beautiful.

The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

Chloe Saunders was a normal film student, dreaming to be a director. Until she started seeing ghosts and got sent to Lyle House, a home for "troubled teens" with the diagnosis of schziophrenia. Chloe then found out that her roommates may not be just some kids with problems, but, dare I say, supernaturals.

After discovering Lyle House's true intentions, Chloe and her friends, Rae, Simon and Derek tried to escape but Chloe and Rae got caught in the process. Chloe tries to escape from the organization known as the Edison Group in order to rejoin Simon and Derek in their quest to find their missing father.

The Awakening was even better then the proceeding book, The Summoning. I loved every page of it, especially whenever Chloe would raise the dead (accidentally of course). A lot of the time I felt very sorry for Derek, where you can tell he likes Chloe but is too socially awkward to express those feelings without yelling at her.

On a scale of one to ten, this book is a twelve and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes supernatural phenomenon, ghost stories or a good "I don't know what they're going to do now" book. I cannot wait for the final book in the trilogy, The Reckoning.

I'll give the Awakening a review of:

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Piscine (or Pi) was on his way from his home in India to Canada with his family when the Japanese ship they were on sank. Having been raised in a zoo, Pi understands animals are dangerous. He understands it even more now that he is trapped on a lifeboat with an adult Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. He is now shipwrecked with one tiger, one locker full of supplies, and the one God he prays to from three different religions.

Life of Pi left me a bit confused at the ending but in a good way. The kind of way that it's supposed to when a book is preaching especially about religion and faith.

The only real bone to pick with this book was that sometimes all the technical terms Martel uses leaves me a bit puzzled. I can't understand what's going on when I don't understand the "big words" he's using. It was little difficult to picture the lifeboat situation in my head.

However, I really liked the story and the writing style so I therefore give this book a review of:

Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer

Vladimir Tod is not your normal middle school kid. He has fangs and a taste for blood. Yes, he's a vampire.

Three years after his parents die, his guardian Nelly and his best friend Henry are the only ones who know of Vlad's little secret. Now he is trying to get through school with the bullies picking on him, and trying to get the attention of Meredith. But now keeping his secret will be harder than ever with a nosy substitute teacher who has a "good" fascination with mythology.

This was overall a pretty good book. Sometimes, I felt Vlad and the other characters got a bit too emotional, making them unrealistic. I liked how Vlad got his blood: Nelly sneaking it out of the hospital she works at. It was a nice short read (only about 180 pages). I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next to Vlad.

I'll give this book a review of:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12 in Panem (the post- United States country), where you can starve to death in safety. In order to feed her family, she goes hunting in the woods behind the fence where it is illegal to go with her friend Gale.

Each year, the Captiol of Panem forces each of the twelve districts to send two tributes- a boy and a girl- to participate in the Hunger Games, a fight to the death. The last one alive will have fame and fortune while the others will have their graves. Katniss volunteers to save her little sister, Prim, from going to the Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games is a great book. I love how much you get to be familiar with the new country. It is has excellent writing and is extremely hard to put down. I'm not one to get hooked on books to where I can't put them on the night stand, but this one had me at odds with whether I should sleep or read.

If you like action books, romance, and new worlds, you'll love the Hunger Games.

I'll give this wonderful book a review of:

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

It has been five months since Valerie Leftman's boyfriend Nick shot up the high school, killing student, faculty and himself and injuring countless others including Valerie. Now Valerie has to pick up the pieces of her regretful life to finish her senior year at school.

The thing that got me to read Hate List was it's wonderful book trailer. I love watching book trailers and this one has a beautiful one and the story captivated me from the beginning.

From the first few pages I was hooked into Valerie's life. By the middle of the book I felt so close to her that I felt real anger when her dad started being so mean to her. The story was interesting and compelling but it didn't have much action in it. It was mostly about the aftermath of action.

If you are a fan of emotional books that make you almost or actually cry (yes when I finished it my eyes were glistening a bit) this is the book for you. If you are compelled to more action based and fantasy then I wouldn't really recommend it but you can try it. It depicts a few scenes from the shooting at the beginning.

Overall I really liked this book. I'll give it a review of:

Welcome

This is the first post of The Witch Reads (as you may notice from the lack of preceeding posts). I will review books on this blog, and the reviews are entirely opinion and may be biased. That is your warning so don't go off on me because I gave your favorite book a bad review.

I am just getting started with this blog so I might be slow with posting and getting everything on track. Please be patient and please check back soon! Thanks to everyone reading this post!