Review Blood and Chocolate: Thursdays is for oldies but goodies

Thursdays is for oldies but goodies is a feature of this blog, Jessy' s Bookends.  Thursdays, we find those old readings that we love, to share them with you...  Sometimes, we just show you and oldie and share with you some ideas.

If you want to participate:

1. Make a post about that old reading you enjoyed.  Look for those old reviews!
2. If you have an old great review, but the book wasn't that goodie, you can share it with us too.

Remember to leave a link to your post in the comments, so I can visit.

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Publisher: Random House Children's Books (1999)
Source: Bought

Blood and Chocolate is the story of Vivian, a teenage girl and her pack. The story emphasizes how hard she tries to belong. She tries hard to control her wolf side and by the other hand, she deals with her feelings and sexuality.

Vivian is just a teenage girl but her attitude shows traces of a female who someday could be an alpha. At least for the first half of the story it was true. But then she falls for a human guy. She is all hormones and no brain.

The story looses its track when Vivian shows her true nature to Aiden (human guy), and love isn’t enough for them to stay together. She becomes obsess and a danger to her pack’s safety. She sees clarity when finaly chose one of her kind.

About The Book
I found the author's style simple and one that creates images during the first half of Blood and Chocolate. The characters were human but expressed every emotion as a canine would. I found that captivating. Overall it was just ok. I expected more from Vivian, but she never delivered that great heroine. Vivian who was a character full of possibilities, ended enslaved by her sexual nature.

Rating: 2 might not sound like a goodie, but this book has its merits, that's why  I wanted to share it with you.  Pick the book up and let me know what you think.

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Makers by Cory Doctorow: Thursdays is for oldies but goodies

Makers by Cory Doctorow
Published: 2009 by HarperVoyager
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tech geniuses / futuristic artists or theme park tycoons?

Makers promised a 416 pages experience of futuristic tech ingenuity and continuous technological change, with some conflicts of course. The book is divided in three parts and ends with a short epilogue. The first part is characterized by optimism and idealism. Perry and Lester are happy with their days creating junk innovative art in Florida. At first you question why Kettlewell wants them working for him, but shortly they demonstrate the genius in them. They had interest in the people around them; they were good people who wanted to give something back to the community and especially to the shantytown. The second part is the end of the Kodacell’s new industry with its New Work. The third part is full of conflicts between characters while a “suits” (as Perry calls businessmen) dispute is presented in the story. And finally, we read the epilogue where the future full of easy solutions for each problem, shows its true colors. No more fame or notoriousness for them but the friendship is back in a final spin of inventiveness and remembrance.

I liked the ingenuity and openness of Lester and his wish to share his genius. About Perry, great optimism but he needed to abandon his high horse.

Overall, it’s a good story, sometimes difficult to follow the events, but a good one. Definitely, I’m interested in reading more of Doctorow’s work.

I received this book as a prize for a winning review at Bookarmy.com (when it was an active site) This is my honest review.

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Elsewhere Review: Thursdays are for oldies but goodies

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The cover of this book was what had my attention since I first saw it. A snow globe in the middle of a blue, yellow and green background, just like a fantasy world in the middle of nowhere. You can feel like a spectator to a new world.

About the reading: It was refreshing and relaxing. It shows originality and inventiveness from the author. Characters show development and are easy to relate to. Then again, the events are predictable, something inevitable when the author establishes from the beginning the outcome of the story. Also, at some scenes the exchange between characters can be a little corny.

I enjoyed Elsewhere. It was fun and original, sometimes too predictable, but never boring. After reading Elsewhere and looking again at the cover, I visualize the snow globe as a contained , secure but fragile world. Also, I can say it brings the feeling of looking through one of the observation decks lenses the story mentions.

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The Chocolate War: Thursdays is for oldies but goodies... and also share some good trailers

Thursdays is for oldies but goodies

I was reading my old review and found this one.  The Chocolate War is a great book and is one I would like all of you to read.  I remember buying this book and thinking how simple the story sounded.  The chocolate war is something more than a frivolous candy sale, it represents fighting for what you think is fair, it is about what do you believe and stand for.

Here is my review on :

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The first thing that grabbed my attention was the male point of view. The author is always direct while creating a concrete depiction of the world surrounding the protagonist. The protagonist develops a sense of purpose and a necessity to impact the world he lives in, in exchange, he is ostracized. From the beginning to the end, I kept hoping for the hero to grab a moment of victory, or at least, savor a little justice. That moment of redemption never came and with no doubt it makes Cormier's novel a more unique and certainly, unpredictable YA story.

A more developed group of characters would have been a plus. Brother Leon,Archie and of course Jerry(protagonist) represent different dimensions of the human condition. Jerry is the idealist, Archie is the egocentric coward and Leon the manipulative abusive. They represent the best and the worst and therefore are interesting and capture the readers attention. On the other hand, Obie, Carter and Goober could do more. After reading the book, these three left some unresolved conflicts: Obie's emotional dichotomy of admiration/hate against Archie, Carter false sense of control and authority- Archie marionette and Goober motivations for abandoning everything he enjoys.

I was left with questions and I'm still hoping Jerry wins his war. He acted guided by his values and he truly changed his universe.I read this book on a leap of faith, no doubt an excellent decision.

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The Host: Thursday is for oldies but goodies

This is not so old, but I want to share a book I read in 2009 and reviewed at goodreads. The book is The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I loved reading this novel and I can't hardly wait for a series of books from this title. There are going to be two more books: The Soul & The Seeker but haven't heard anything yet. Also a movie is suppose to be release during 2013, with Saoirse Ronan as Wanderer. Hope you take interest on The Host and have some thoughts to share about it.


The Host by Stephenie Meyer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


When I began to read The Host, there were multiple times when I almost threw it aside for been a little bit tedious. It's great I decided to continue with my reading. Now is one of my favorite books.

Definitely, a beautiful book and what an incredible character is Wanderer. I really admire her willingness to give, to help and to love. It's amazing how she transforms herself and how her relationship with her host is transformed.

We could say their parasitic relationship was changed to a symbiotic relation the moment Melanie and Wanderer began to care for each other.



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If you have some oldies but goodies you want to share, leave a message here with a link to your post. Also you can leave a comment here with your answer if you don't have a blog.