Book Review: The Void of Mist and Thunder is a Shocking Series End

Hallo. Do not be alarmed. We come in peace.

Now that the moment of randomness is out of the way, it's time to get down to business. I'm back with a new book review. The Thirteenth Reality: The Void of Mist and Thunder.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Story:
Reality itself is on the brink of collapse. Not only is each reality branch out of control, the Realitants are trying to find a way to rescue Tick from the Nonex. To make matters worse, the fourth dimension has been breached, and a deadly force known as the Void of Mist and Thunder is entering all the realities, and if not stopped, it will consume all of them. Will they find a way to rescue Tick and save all the realities? Or will all be consumed by the Void of Mist and Thunder?
James Dashner brings science to the idea of parallel realities like no one has managed to do it before. And instead of making it boring, he manages to make it one exciting roller coaster ride. Not only will you find yourself on the edge of your seat, you'll be wanting more. This science fiction series is not to be missed.
Caution:
People in peril. Monsters are consumed and mutated even further. A woman is described as being merged with shrapnel. Battles are fought and people die.
Lessons:
Sometimes our enemies can become our greatest allies. A common enemy unites even the oldest of foes. If you do good, you will be rewarded in time. Even when things seem hopeless, we can believe that everything will work out in the end.

Book Review: Strange Stories, Peculiar Lessons is a new collection of fairy tales

Time for my second review of the day. This one is for a collection of short stories done by Stephen Groll, and it's Strange Stories, Peculiar Lessons.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Story:
This book is actually a collection of short stories which feature kids learning life lessons through a series of strange adventures, or misadventures. Some of those stories involve the characters from his novel Beyond the Dead Forest, continuing their adventures. Several of these stories he's shared in the past, but there are some new tales in the mix as well, such as a Christmas adventure for Carter and Kat. It was good to read each of these tales, and Stephen Groll has shown quite the imagination in crafting all these unique places each character travels to, and comes up with a lot of monsters found nowhere else in fiction. These tales are reminiscent of the Tales of The Brothers Grimm, while combining with the morality of the Tales of Hans Christian Anderson. And just like both collections, these tales can be dark and scary as each character faces the problems they go through. But there is still hope, as there is always hope, in living our lives to help others instead of ourselves.
Caution:
Children in peril. An implied death. Some monsters may be scary sensitive readers.
Lessons:
We find more happiness and joy in living for others instead of ourselves. Bad things sometimes happen to good people. We can learn from our challenges and become better people.

Book Review: Object Lessons for Children's Sermons gives fun ideas for teaching kids

Hallo. I'm back with a couple of new reviews. The first is for Stephen Groll's Object Lessons for Children's Sermons.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Story:
No real story in this book, but the author gives several fun tricks to do for an audience, and how to do them. He does give a caution that some involve fire, and practice will need to be done in order to perfect these tricks. In addition to each trick, an object lesson is tied in to each one, so if you're trying to teach your children about Jesus Christ and what he did, these lessons can be a fun way to reach them. Even if you're not Christian, you can still use this book to learn how to do magic tricks for a talent show, or to just have fun with your friends.
Caution:
Some tricks use fire. Probably a good idea to practice with someone to watch.
Lessons:
We can find goodness in all that we do.

Book review: The Chosen One captures real-life horror

Hello everyone. Back with a new book review. I read this for class, but I'm posting my thoughts on The Chosen One here:

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Story:
Kyra is a young girl living in an isolated community. The people there claim to worship God and follow His commandments, living in family communities. Sounds peaceful, right? Wrong. Their community is cut off from the rest of the world, and the women are at the mercy of merciless old men who take as many wives as they can, even when the girls are sixty years younger than they are. Through her life, Kyra has been breaking some of the rules, like reading books and falling in love with a young man close to her age. However, when the man who calls himself the Prophet declares that Kyra is to marry her sixty-year old uncle, who already has six wives, she knows that she has to take a stand and take her own life into her own hands. 
I have read very few books where I encountered characters I ended up hating so much that I wanted to go into the story and beat them to a pulp. This book is now one of those stories. The villains are absolutely despicable, claiming to be Chosen of God when they do NOTHING to live as Christians should. All that community does is stagnate in what they have, refusing to change and seeing everyone else as damned to hell. I also found it insulting that Mark Childs claims to be a prophet, and that Kyra's uncle Hyrum is supposed to be an apostle, but NONE of them are that. It's very clear that these men are only wolves in sheep's clothing, having their own police force to enforce their rules upon the closed community while they make it seem like their ideas and philosophies are the will of God. I know for sure that the men leading this community are NOT holy men. They are criminals and thugs who try to make everyone living in the community into mindless robots who do nothing but what they're told to do. I so wanted to tear them limb from limb. That's how well these antagonists are written in the story. 
If there was anyone who could capture how a thirteen-year old girl must feel in this situation, it was Carol Lynch Williams. She has proven that she can write how a teen would feel, questioning what she knows, seeing evil men for who they are, and realizing that it's not safe for her to stay in the place she's lived all her life. I found myself worrying for her and getting scared that the story might not have a happy ending after all. Whether it does or not... you'll have to read this book to find out. 
Caution:
Old men try to marry teenage girls. Some "hells" and "damns". An old man beats a girl when she disobeys him, and a teenage boy is also beaten. Some deaths are mentioned but not seen. 
Lessons:
Judge people by their actions, and not their words. We should seek out the best books for comfort and education. Wicked men will try to twist the word of God to suit their own ends.

Book Review: A Feast for Crows continues the aftermath

Hi again. Got a book read and ready to review. Today's selections is A Feast for Crows.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Story:
Continuing where A Storm of Swords left off, Westeros is in disarray. Tywin Lannister has been murdered by his son Tyrion, and Cersei is determined to have the head of her brother. Brienne is determined to find the lost Stark girls and bring them to safety to keep the oaths she made with Catelyn Stark and Jaime Lannister. Even though sister and brother have been reunited, Cersei and Jaime grow further and further apart as they see that both of them have changed, and in ways they do not like. As her brother continues to act more like the knight he was supposed to be, Cersei continues to maneuver the politics of the seven kingdoms, using her son Tommen as a puppet king while she tries to put in power people she can control. Meanwhile, Arya arrives in Braavos and starts adopting a new lifestyle while Samwell Tarly travels to Oldtown to learn to be a maester for the Night's Watch. All around, the people struggle to rebuild life after the war of the Five Kings has all but ended. However, events are in motion that cannot be stopped. The Ironborn are moving to conquer the entire land, outlaws continue to plague the people, and ancient customs that were long banned are being brought back. One thing can be certain: all this will mean a feast for crows.
This book, to be honest, was not as well liked as the others were. That does not mean it's not important for the series. It shows the aftermath of a war that was won by the side no one wanted to win, and how the people suffer for it. George R. R. Martin has done a great job showing people desperate for order among all the chaos the war has brought on, from becoming outlaws to turning to religion for comfort. It was interesting to read from Cersei's viewpoint, even though she's one of my least favorite characters, because we get to see her reasoning for doing what she does, and it becomes clear who she truly cares about. Not to mention we learn things about her past that could set in motion the future. It was tedious to read a lot of the chapters because a lot of them felt like filler, but that's life for you. Gotta go through things that don't feel important at the moment, but will undoubtedly be so in the future. It's clear that Martin is setting the stage for something big, and all we can do is wait for the storm to hit.
Caution:
Large amounts of swearing, including use of the F-word. People have sex and discuss it with each other. Blood and gore abound.
Lessons:
The more we try to cover up our sins, the more they come back to haunt us. Nothing stays hidden forever. We must watch what we do and say, for there is a chance that they will be used against us.