csharpton

5 Stars.An undiagnosed disease has wiped out (almost) everyone over the age of 14 leaving London's children to fend for themselves. Higson bases his story on the exploits of a group living in the remains of the Waitrose store in Holloway, a year on from the initial catastrophe. But this is no permanent picnic for the children. Food and water are scarce commodities, fought over with other kids (the nearby Morrisons crew), stray dogs but also the remaining adults not killed by the disease who are vicious zombie-like figures covered in boils, wounds and scabs.The "grown-ups", as the Waitrose crew call them, are completely wild, as well as cannibalistic, and present the primary threat to the children as becomes apparent in the first couple of chapters during which one child is taken away and others expierence a vicious attack. The hand-to-mouth existence the children endure is nasty, brutish and potentially short, and so when a stranger appears at Waitrose with tales of a safe haven with food, water and comfortable beds it does not take the Waitrose and Morrisons group long to decide to risk leaving their fortresses for the dangerous trek across London.The Enemy is clever, imaginative, a hell of a good ride, and absolutely not for the faint-hearted. Kids kill and kids die, sometimes horribly and nobody is immune: being popular or a leader of the group saves nobody in Higson's world.Charlie Higson is a motherf*cking genius. In a book with really no down-time between massive threats, he manages to develop his characters (and there are a lot of them) in such a way that I really felt like I knew each kid. Higson is also a bit of a sadist. While reading this book, I had an imaginary one-sided convo with him (where he was addressing me) that went something like this: "Oh, hey Cee, you like this story? Like this character a lot, yeah? Think I won't kill him? Bam! Dead! Or this one over here? Snap! Eaten! Oh, you don't like this kid? How 'bout I MAKE you like him, then Splat! Dead, dead and dead! Ha!"Higson also leaves plenty of secrets hanging - how did the disease start? what happens to the older kids as they reach a certain age? that helps to add an air of mystery to the strong suspense that is sustained throughout the 400 pages. He also finishes the story with a strong hint of the battles to come.

5 Stars.**'Original' version**This book has been sitting on my bookshelf since last Spring. I feel like a complete idiot. I first heard about this book when my cousin told me she had heard really great things about it and wanted to read it. Man, those rumors are so true. Every part of the whole Catholic school girl fantasy is played out in this one. And adding in the best friend's dad. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! I absolutely LOVED this book. Five stars for the hot, discriptive sex scenes, and the way the feelings develop without rushing it.The major bombshell that was dropped came as a complete and utter shock to me. It was completely unexpected and I won’t lie... I absolutely loved it (did I already say that?). A lot of books these days are just so predictable, so the fact that Selena Kit completely took me off guard with that twist seriously takes true talent.This book does have a little bit of a certain taboo subject, but honestly, nobody but Selena Kitt could write and make it sound so amazing and so hot!This will definitely be a re-read for me. I ended up REALLY liking it and it definitely won't be my last Selena Kitt book, that's for sure!

3.5 Stars.It's hard not to compare Lola to Anna, so I'll get this out of the way first.. Lola and the French Kiss has a style and flair all its own, owing to Lola Nolan and her ever changing fashion, quirky love-crush Cricket, and the genuine teen anguish she goes through. What works here is that it Lola doesn't just start liking Cricket when she's still with her current boyfriend, punk rocker Max, but she's always liked him. That her feelings are established and thus get all churned up when Cricket comes back keep it from being shallow. Plus, she's got two gay dads, an awesome best friend,lives in San Francisco and works on a full on Marie Antoinette dress for a school dance. Lola might be a little too quirky for me in real life, but in print she's great, and so is this novel. And while I found LOLA to be enjoyable, to me, it was in no way, shape, or form better than ANNA. I thought it would be. I wanted it to be. I've been hearing that this book is more amazing than AATFK. And maybe that was the problem. This book was so hyped up that I didn't love it as much as I thought I would.

3 starsThis second book in the Chicago Stars series definitely had its moments. While Gracie's character took some warming up to (the frumpy thirty-year-old ingenue routine was tedious), and I struggled at various points throughout the book with Bobby Tom's selfish, superficial nature and entitlement issues, there were many points along their way that worked nicely for me. I wish we'd had more moments like the third wheel date, because that was a riot, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching B.T. slowly start to fall for Gracie, even though he was utterly oblivious to it. Most of the middle of the book charmed me, and I think Susan Elizabeth Phillips did a great job with the relationship evolution. I was particularly pleased that Gracie never did take any guff from B.T. (until, unfortunately, the end), instead showing a witty sort of grit as she pays him back when he went too far over the line. Despite the annoyingly prim demeanor at the beginning, she did display quite a bit of backbone in places and grew on me because of that.Unfortunately, I had some significant problems with the last 15% of the book. I had thought, as I was reading, that Gracie had grown in confidence and her self esteem was evolving after her makeover, given how well she dealt with her emotions and all of Bobby Tom's hijinks through most of the book. Then she finds out about the Big Betrayal and she's back to being a total frump, a shattered shell, with no backbone or self esteem. I was confused by her reaction and intensely disappointed by her lack of growth and the apparent ease in which she was stripped of any feelings of worth, all of which seemed grossly against character. Not to mention, Phillips missed several opportunities to make a more substantive statement about the value of a woman's self esteem over superficiality.The football quiz conclusion was ridiculous and didn't match the tone of the previous events. I felt it was a misplaced and heavy-handed attempt to put the book back on lighter footing for the obligatory happy ending. Perhaps if there had been an epilogue, giving readers a bit of a time buffer before introducing it, it would have been more successful but as it was, it fell flat for me. In fact, so much of the goings on in the last two chapters of this book bothered me that I was left feeling like Heaven, Texas missed a lot of opportunities to be a thoroughly entertaining romance, regardless of how much I enjoyed sections of it.

5 Stars.I just got done with the LOTU series (#1- #9). And the Darkest Kiss is definitely my favorite book in the series! This book has everything I think a great book should - wonder, humor, romance, action, questions, sadness, curiosity and an insatiable desire for more.. All rolled into one! This book had me hooked from the very beginning. The characters seemed so real I thought I knew them personally. Highly recommend to people who enjoy reading snarky, funny, sensitive, and lovable characters! I'll definitely be reading more of Gena Showalter's books!