Review Kellie's Diary

Kellie's Diary
Author: Thomas Jenner, Angeline Perkins
Published: Survive Entertainment, 2013
Source: Purchased
Look for this at Amazon / Goodreads

A series of diary entries through the eyes of a little girl as she tries to survive the end of the world.

What if the early 1990's didn't happen as we remember it? What kind of world would we live in today?

This story is told from the viewpoint of 9-year-old Kellie, a typical third-grade girl living her life as anyone else would, and she shares her daily activities with her diary. When the world crumbles and the dead walk, Kellie struggles to survive and find her way home, all the while sharing her tale with her diary.

This is an account of our hypothetical past, present and future.

Written in journal style, this book shows the fictional story of a girl in search of her family. Kellie has a diary in which she makes entries about her daily happenings. Events in Kellie's Diary occur in the 90s, where this girl still in elementary school begins to write in this journal what she observes around her. As days go by, people with flu show in the population, as it is evidenced in the entries Kellie writes in the pages of her journal addressed to Barbie. The situation becomes difficult when she observes the first attacks and also, it is then that the story reaches its climax. The fight for survival starts for Kellie. Kellie with cunningness, intelligence and courage embarks on a journey to her home and to her family.

It has been a while since I have read a book that was so amazing for its simplicity and way of presenting the plot’s situation from the start. Journal entries are generated in a straightforward manner by presenting errors and corrections as a child would have written them in an effort to show their experiences as they are occurring. All entries except the first, are addressed at Barbie, name given to the journal by Kellie. When she composes each diary, kellie writes as if she was sharing her feelings with a friend. This gives a sense of camaraderie to the interaction between Kellie and her ​​diary.

Authors Thomas Jenner and Angeline Perkins manage to create a unique experience in this character. Kellie has to make decisions that even an adult would find difficult by fear and terror. This girl is bold and wise, has common sense and intelligence, reasons that provoke in me fast interest in the events surrounding this girl. I kept reading so I could know what she would do next. This book left me wanting to know more about Kellie and about the 90’s as this decade is represented in Kellie's Diary. This is a series I want to continue reading during 2014.

What to watch: The Walking Dead & American Horror Story

The Walking Dead

Watch it @ AMC

     The Walking Dead it's already on its second season. Actually, second season already ended and how it ended! For all these characters, the journey has turn more emotionally and physically draining. 

Season 1

     During first season, the characters found each other, and began to travel looking for a save haven.  The focus of the story is Rick.  He is a sheriff, who wakes up in an abandon hospital.  He doesn't know what happened on that place or everywhere.  He explores the place, the city, and soon finds out that the living are the few and the dead, now many, are looking for them to feed, as a lion would look for cattle.  He continues traveling while finding his family.  Rick became the lead of the stranded group.  They keep traveling, looking and hoping for safety.  The group confronted many adversities.   The season ended on a cliffhanger, with a big explosion, and with this, all hope vanished for the group.  They kept going without a goal; just trying to continue breathing. I couldn't wait for a second season.

Season 2

     Then, for the second season, the show seemed lost.  I didn't find a purpose on the first episodes, as various episodes were uneventful. Almost stop watching the show, but then the episodes got interesting and the story began making sense again.  In this season, the group found a "safe" place while looking for a member of the group lost during a zombie invasion at the highway.  While staying in this place, they discovered the people who received them on their home, had a secret of their own, capable of endangering their lives.  After spending time with these people, they became part of the group.  They have power struggles and Rick will be confronted and will lose the faith of his group.  He won't lose hope and keeps his determination while making big decisions that will change everything for everyone.  At the amazing two final episodes of the second season, Rick won't have a doubt on his mind.  His strong leadership will proof adequate to assure everybody is safe.

     I can't wait to watch a third season.  Meanwhile, I'm planning on reading the comic series.

American Horror Story
Watch it @ FX

     American Horror Story is a fantastic show that gives me goosebumps just by thinking about it.  This is one of those shows you look forward to every week, with the same excitement of a first date... but in this case, no romance.  The concept involves the old formula:

Cheap Beautiful Home + Emotionally Unstable Family = Many Deaths 

     The show is driven by characters with macabre motivations.  Every episode shows a little bit of the house's story.  The house itself has purpose and has an existence of its own.  We see the family interacting constantly with a number of peculiar people, all linked to the house in some way.  This family moves to this place looking for salve for their emotional wounds, finding their peace in a surprising way.  

     The intro of this how is hectic and intrinsic, therefore its difficult to see many details and objects it shows inside the house.  As the show advances, you understand the intro scenes, that accompanied by its music, provide the perfect climate for the show. 

     The season finale was dark and surprising.  A second season is a must.

What can I watch next?  Stay tuned.

     

Dust Review: Reborn more than once

I just finished reading Dust, an urban fantasy novel written by Joan Frances Turner. After reading a little about her, I understand her motivation and inspiration to create it. Since 2003, she began writing ideas here and there, shaping her writing for several years and then bring us the story of Jessie, a teenager in a world where zombies have always been part of everyday life.

Jessie is a teen who dies, becomes a zombie while experiencing an awakening in her existence. In life affected by his family, but in death is accepted into the arms of this family that is the Fly by Nights. Her anger continually perspires in the story, except in the peculiar times in which harmony reigns in the group and a spontaneous dance begins. I noticed while reading this that the author needs to do better transitions between events, especially when they did these dances. The narrative in these scenes is confusing especially during the first part. By putting aside that aspect, later in my reading I found these dances and melodic communication an original and entertaining story.

Here “gentle” existence between friendly food fights and fights just because, is shaken with the arrival of a new threat. From that moment we see Jessie’s determination , her change and development, process that determines what will happen to everyone including mankind.

About the Book
This is the hardcover version which consists of 374 pages and is divided into three parts. Inside is a map, which allows you to make reference and place the characters in a physical place.

The ideas described have originality and are away from the norm of traditional zombies. In the first part of the novel is difficult to determine the participants in a conversation or at what time the events were happening. I was interested in Turner’s way of describing battles and events using peculiar metaphors and similes. That demonstrates creativity. Another interesting aspect is that the author created a slang ( hoo for humans) for the story.

What do I think about Jessie?
Jessie seemed childish and impulsive. The story leads to her development and maturity, which was necessary to make her the centerpiece of the chain of events. The interesting thing about it is that Jessie evolves while others regress. I have interest in seeing what role Jessie plays in the future of this serie.


Rating:

Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Forest of hands and teeth is a new take on the apocalyptic theme. It takes place in a world where people are surrounded by a fence which offers safety, always in fragile balance. The story is well written and the author describes everything in a unique way. Carrie Ryan makes possible for the reader to imagine that world. The story is interesting but, I would have like to see more development on three aspects of the story: (1) the secrecy of the Sisterhood (2) the relation between the numbers and the gates (3) the ending of Mary's journey.
Ryan created a complex character in Mary. She is a girl with dreams and expectations that cannot come true on her secluded village. She struggles but decide to look for something more, to leave safety behind and see the world. Although, her journey is physically and emotionally exhausting, she keeps pushing forward, leaving everything behind to discover a possibility of a new life.
The village, Mary’s home, has a fence, a metaphor for a life full of rules and social standards. The fence controls the known world to the villagers and the sisterhood is the way to keep people in check. Definitively, the author created and interesting setting and good characters.


View all my reviews View review @ goodreads

Halloween resurrection

I know I have abandoned my blogging for a while, so what a perfect time is October to return to the blog world.

This October I've been reading about zombies. Do you know that the CDC has a protocol for that! Unbelievable, but it's true. Here's it is @
http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies.asp

You can read a little about it and also learn how to be prepared for all kinds of emergencies :)

Also you can visit the Zombie Research Society blog. They have photos of a really interesting house in Poland. Well, it looks more like a fortress, but that is its purpose.

Well, until my next post. Soon, I will be sharing a review I posted on goodreads for Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth.

If you liked this image, credits to andtara: http://www.flickr.com/photos/57959121@N03/6247133355/

Is it Tuesday? Teaser Tuesdays

Today I learned about Teaser Tuesdays. Well, this is a meme by MizB at Should Be Reading.
http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com

For my very first teaser I chose Dust by Joan Frances Turner, page 16:

"The queen's throne, but of course Her Majesty was nowhere to be seen. Teresa loves to disappear for hours and days at a time, no saying where or why, no saying how she fed."

If you want to know more about this book go to
http://www.joanfrancesturner.com/books