Angeli: The Pirate, the Angel & the Irishman by Amy Vansant

I'll admit, this book kinda caught me by surprise. I'm not a fan of books that center around love stories. Fortunately for Angeli: The Pirate, the Angel & the Irishman there  is enough other stuff going on in the book to keep it interesting. Yes, there's sex. Yes there's a LOT of "he's not good enough for you". But you've also got warriors taking down infected angels who have fed off human energy, you've got knife fights, you've got pirates, you've got chaos, etc. 

This is definitely not a character driven story. I really felt nothing for the characters. Though I did find myself fascinated by the bad guy of the story, he takes up so little of the book.The rest of the characters, I dunno. They just kinda fell flat for me. 

I like the world this is based in. Arch Angels in charge of Guardian Angels who are susceptible to an illness that makes them destroy humans instead of protecting them, Sentinels to destroy the infected. It's definitely an interesting world. But the story line we're given in this world? It could have been better. 

Overall, I'm going to give this one 3 hoots.

              Hoot!Hoot!

                 Hoot!

*"I was provided with a free copy of this book so I could give an honest review."

Dewey Read-A-Thon: End of Event Meme

Okay, last hour of staying awake, last series of questions asked for the Dewey 24-Hour Read-A-Thon

End of Event Meme:

Which hour was most daunting for you?

As with the last Read-A-Thon, between 5 and 6 AM were toughest for me!

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

Chimichanga by Eric Powell

The Realmsic Conquest: The Hero of Legend by Demethius Jackson

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

Not really, no.

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

Everything! Though, in the future, I'm hoping to help out with the prizes, try to give more people a chance to win something.

How many books did you read?

I'm going to be generous and say 3.

What were the names of the books you read?

The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood

The Realmsic Conquest: The Hero of Legend by Demethius Jackson

Angeli: The Pirate, The Angel & The Irishman by Amy Vansant

Which book did you enjoy most?

The Realmsic Conquest. Hands down.

Which did you enjoy least?

The Killer Next Door. Not my cup of tea. Very predictable.

If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

Don't be shy. Just go out and cheer!

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

I'm planning on attending every Read-A-Thon you've got. Not sure if I'll do cheerleading again, we'll see how big of a need there is next time. And I'm HOPING to be able to set aside some money to either donate  a prize or be an angel.

Dewey Read-A-Thon: 21 hours down, 3 to go!

The readers are dropping like flies! I can't say I blame them, though. My own eyes are threatening to close for the night (morning at this point, really) at any moment. My head is starting to hurt and my sleep schedule is going to be way off for several days. But you know what? TOTALLY WORTH IT! We've got 3 more hours! Let's do this!

Dewey Read-A-Thon: 18 hours down!

I've been awake for at least 19 hours now. I'm going back and forth, mentally, between feeling okay, feeling tired, and well, this:

Hunger is not yet as much of an issue as I was worried about. Water is definitely my best friend right now. I'm trying to still get in exercise, but it's difficult to find room to do so in a 1 bedroom apartment shared by 3 people. At this point, I'm lucky I'm allowed to have a light on.

So, I'm going to do some cheerleading, call forth my inner silliness and encourage others to keep reading. Only 6 more hours!!!!

Dewey Read-A-Thon: 15 hours completed

I've been awake for 16 hours now. I've got another 9 hours to go. I'm still within the realm of "normal" sleeping habits for a person. The difficult stuff usually kicks in after 18-20 hours. For now, though, I'm starting to reach the point where tiredness and silliness meet. It is an interesting combination. My stomach could easily start turning sour on me, but I've been making sure to drink plenty of water.

I've completed 2 books so far. I'm working on a third. The first book was bleh. The second was OMG! YOU HAVE TO READ THIS! This third one is, so far, meh. But we'll see how it ultimately ends up.

Cheerleading has been interesting. I've been checking the spreadsheet and looking for reader names to become active, indicating that they are reading or they are accepting tweets from non-followers.

For now, though, I'm going to take a shower. When you're used to taking a shower in the mornings, a quick shower late at night can help wake you up a bit. So, I'm off!

The Realmsic Conquest: The Hero of Legend by Demethius Jackson

A while back one of the authors I follow on Twitter promoted his friend's work. I took a look at the link he shared and watched the video that the friend had posted on YouTube to advertise his work. After watching, I knew I had to read this book. Check it out for yourself:

See? How could I ignore an invite like that? I actually did get the book a while ago and just finished today. My first thought upon finishing it? "Why did I wait so long to read this?!"

The Realmsic Conquest: The Hero of Legend is a fast paced adventure. The book, in PDF format, is less than 200 pages, so Jackson is not the type of author to waste his words. I was a little worried at the beginning when the new king is reciting history to his council. I thought "they already know the history, this is clearly an exposition dump for the reader." But my concerns were quickly laid to rest with everything that happened after the initial exposition. The pacing works and, though I know I read slowly, I felt like I was going as fast as the characters.

The characters themselves were amazingly real to me. Random comments like "Really? Another secret?"* and "Look, I know this seems bad...and, in fact, it is."** were very similar to how I was feeling and provided a nice, realistic sense of humor to these situations. None of the characters gave off the vibe of being one dimensional. Admittedly, the bad guy's descent into madness*** was predictable, but I'm always appreciative of an intelligent and charismatic villain.

There were a few naming conventions that made you want to wag a finger at the author saying "Oh you!" But at the same time, they kinda fit. I won't ruin them for you, but you'll no doubt recognize them when you read them.

Overall, I feel Jackson does a wonderful job of telling a thrilling adventure without...really without any fluff at all. Heck, there wasn't even a love story! I LOVE that! I've already recommend this book to others and have enjoyed every page of this story. I can't help but give this book a whole 5 hoots out of 5!**** Go get yourself a copy of this book!

                 Hoot!Hoot!

                 Hoot!Hoot!

                    Hoot!

*Pg. 129 in PDF.
**Pg. 109 in PDF.
***Resulting in an awesome boss battle!
****Even if he did have an entire lost archive destroyed. I so want to be in the Archival Order!

Dewey Read-A-Thon: Mid-Event Survey

Just a quick update, answering the questions asked by the lovely people at 24hourreadathon.com :)

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now?
The Realmsic Conquest: The Hero of Legend by Demethius Jackson

2. How many books have you read so far?
Sadly I have only finished one book, but I'm so close to two! And this one is so amazing so far!

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
Hmm...can I get back to you on that? Too many too choose from!

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Hubby started out the day not feeling well so I had less prep time than intended and then I had to spend some time taking care of him, but he's feeling better and I really didn't lose too much time.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
How quickly the day is going, yet how slowly my reading is going! I thought I was a faster reader than this!