LOST IN THE FOG – A Paw Patrol Story

What is the book about?

The book is about how the Paw Patrol saved Captain Turbot, who is lost in the fog.

Who was your favourite character and why?

My favourite character was Skye because she flies and is pink.

What was your favourite part of the book and why?

My favourite bit was when the Paw Patrol helped Captain Turbot not be stuck in the fog because it was exciting.

What did you think of the book and why?

I really liked the book because it was very fun and a good and easy read for me.

Reviewed by Fabiola Gutierrez Reviriego

 

ABOUT MY SISTERS!

My 11 year old sister, Aldara, has never liked reading, but, despite her constant complaints about books, she finally found a book - a murder mystery that I recommended - which she absolutely loved. Aldara quickly sped through the book eagerly updating me on all the mysterious clues and who she suspected the murderer was. As she neared the end of the book, I decided to ask her if she wanted to write a review. Aldara has always liked writing and she immediately agreed to it, looking forward to adding her own reviews to my blog. She has just begun to start writing her first review and it will soon be published. She hopes to read a range of books and write as many reviews as me!

My youngest sister Fabiola is 5 years old and has only just started to learn how to read. Fabiola has always been a very determined and independent little girl and when she decided that she wanted to read, my mum was happy to help. She recently started learning her phonics last year and has advanced so much. She know reads short books with ease and is way beyond the level required at her age. When Fabiola heard that both me and Aldara were writing reviews on my blog, she begged me to help her write her own. Fabiola focused for a very long time typing out everything she could to make her review as good as ours (even though they are a lot shorter). In a few days I will publish her work of art, and maybe she will want to write another review soon. 

THE SHORT SECOND LIFE OF BREE TANNER by Stephenie Meyer

“I turned off my brain. It was time to hunt. I took a deep breath, drawing in the scent of the blood inside the humans below. They weren’t the only humans around, but they were the closest. Who you were going to hunt was the kind of decision you had to make before you scented your prey. It was too late now to choose anything. Bree Tanner can barely remember life before she had uncannily powerful senses, superhuman reflexes and unstoppable physical strength. Life before she had a relentless thirst for blood…life before she became a vampire. All Bree knows is that living with her fellow newborns has few certainties and even fewer rules: watch your back, don’t draw attention to yourself and, above all, make it home by sunrise or die. What she doesn’t know: her time as an immortal is quickly running out.”

What is the book about?

This is a story based on the Eclipse novel written in the point of view of a young girl named Bree who was one of the newborn vampires sent by Victoria to attack the Cullens and the Quileute werewolves. 3 months before the fight Riley, Victoria’s head minion, found Bree, who was just a runaway 15 year old girl, on the streets and took her to be changed into a vampire. Now Bree can hardly remember life before she became this powerful creature and the life that she thought was so simple with only a few rules is changing. Everything she has been told seems to be lies when Bree meets a strange vampire called Diego. A new friendship forms as Diego shows Bree hope of a happy life in her new body and suggests things she never thought of. Bree things she will be able to escape the clutches of Riley and her creator but what she doesn’t know is her time as a vampire is nearly over.

What were your initial thoughts on the book?

Once I finished Eclipse I was really looking forward to reading Breaking Dawn but I found that this shorter book was the next book in the series. I hadn’t really though that much about Bree but once I read the title of the book I began to think more about her and what it would have felt like to surrender but still get killed for it. Although the vampires in Eclipse were called newborns I didn’t actually think about how their age could affect them so I was really excited to read about their lives. When I read the blurb I realised that these vampires were not ‘vegetarians’ and that they were going to be very different to the Cullens and wouldn’t be as kind as them. I was really excited to start reading and wanted to see things from a fresh perspective.

Who was your favourite character and why?

It was really hard to pick a favourite character mainly because I liked a lot of people in the book but also because the book was shorter than the other 3 I have read so I didn’t have that long to get to know the characters and understand their personalities. I really liked Bree because she was very responsible and smart and was able to survive in a room full of newborn vampires with personalities completely opposite to hers. I also quite liked Diego because he was very curious and brave and had the courage to risk his life to find out the truth. Diego was also very smart as he was able to figure out the truth about all the lies they had been told because he was daring enough to challenge everything he had been taught. Fred was also another character that I liked because he was very nice and protected Bree from all the other vampires in their coven. I think together all of these characters made the book that much better.

What was your favourite part of the book and why?

My favourite part of the book was when Bella was introduced in the story. I liked this part because I liked looking at Bree’s thoughts and ideas when seeing Bella and what it was like for her. When I was reading this, I grabbed Eclipse and had it next to me so that I could compare what Bella thought of Bree to what Bree thought of Bella. I also liked his part of the book because I liked seeing what it was like for a newborn vampire to be near to a human and not be allowed to go near her. It was interesting to see how much suffering the vampires had to go through to be near Bella. Bree’s view on Bella and how hard it was to control herself around her made me think about the first book, Twilight, and how similar it must have been for Edward when he first sat near Bella and how much concentration it must have taken for him to not attack her.

What was your overall impression of the book?

Overall I really loved the book and found it really refreshing to see something from another viewpoint because I think that everything is a bit biased from Bella’s point of view. I thought it was really effective how we got to see what life was like for the newborn vampires and I especially loved learning more about the fight between them and the Cullens and Quileute werewolves. When I read Eclipse I hadn’t really thought about Bree that much but as I began to read more of this book I started to wish that Stephenie Meyer had chosen to give her a much happier ending.  I found that it was a bit harsh to have Bree feel like she had lost everything and then get killed for not even harming a hair on any of the Cullens, especially seeing as I had gotten so attached to her throughout the book. I really liked learning about what it felt like to be a newborn vampire and I found that some things were really different to what I first thought; I also thought that it was really strange that Bree had been deceived her whole life and hadn’t been told that the superstitions of vampires weren’t real. I had always expected that if vampires were real all the usual stories of them would be real too but once I read Twilight I realised that vampires could be really different. It was peculiar to discover that some vampires still believed all those myths and that life could be very different for the Cullens and Bella if they were all true.

Would you recommend this book?  

I would definitely recommend this book for everyone who has read Eclipse as it is a great way to see things from someone else’s view. I think that this book is best for 15 year olds or older but I’m sure that many other people will love it too.

Summarise the book in one sentence. (Verdict) 

A thrilling Eclipse novel with a new fresh perspective on vampires lives.

Reviewed by Jimena Gutierrez Reviriego

ECLIPSE by Stephenie Meyer

“‘Bella?’ Edward’s soft voice came from behind me. He pulled me into his arms at once, and kissed me. His kiss frightened me. There was way too much tension, too strong an edge to the way his lips crushed mine – like he was afraid we only had so much time left to us. As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob – knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?”

What is the book about?

Edward and Bella are back together and Bella’s friendship with Jacob is crumbling, they were best friends and are now finding it hard to speak to each other. Bella has to choose between love and friendship; however this decision could change not just her life but the relationship between vampires and werewolves forever. Meanwhile, The Cullens and the Quileute werewolves are investigating Seattle. There are mysterious killings every week, which could be because of crazed newborn vampires, and Victoria continues to seek revenge, Bella thinks these two dangers are connected and are happening because of her, but how? An alliance between the werewolves and the vampires is formed as a way to stop the killers, but will it be successful? United as one they must find a way to defeat the murderers but it isn’t all as it seems. The Cullens are worried that the Volturi will come for Bella and are desperate to destroy their new enemies but the Volturi have never let it get this far, could there be a reason?

What were your initial thoughts on the book?

After I had read New Moon I wanted to read Eclipse because I was quite curious and wanted to find out what would happen to Bella and her relationship with Jacob. I also wanted to know more about Victoria and was really interested in finding out if they would defeat her in Eclipse. The front cover of Eclipse didn’t appeal to me quite as much as Twilight and New Moon; it wasn’t as elegant and eye-catching as the others though it did have some intense red similar to the other covers which was quite noticeable. I found that the blurb really persuaded me to begin to read the book and it gave me a lot of questions I would need to answer by reading the book. I was also engaged by the immediate start to the book because an explanation to the previous books always annoys me as I have always read it. Unfortunately the book was a bit of a disappointment as it didn’t meet my expectations and the standard of the previous books in the book series.

Who was your favourite character and why?

I really liked Alice and think that she is my new favourite character in the Twilight Saga because she was really full of life which is a strange way to describe a vampire as you get very different and darker thought when you think about vampires. Alice is constantly trying to make sure Bella always had fun and lives her human life happily. I love how Alice always wants to plan parties and sleepovers for Bella and it really makes me think about Alice’s human life and how much she wishes she could still be human. Alice’s love for fun also makes me have thoughts on her relationship with Bella and that if Alice wasn’t such a kind and lovable person she probably wouldn’t get on with Bella because all Bella wants is to end her human life as soon as she possibly can. Another reason I really like Alice is because of her abilities to see the future. I think that it is really cool and I really wish that I could do that. I also think that her unique talent is also a curse because she may see things she wishes she didn’t. While choosing my favourite character I also thought a lot about my previous favourite character, Bella. She really made me think about how her actions affect the people around her and how her one decision to move to Forks changed the lives of many people. I always wonder what is going through other people’s heads when Bella is talking to them and I wish that I could get some insight on that, but I sometimes manage to create my own ideas and make up a new story along the way. I think that people’s personality get in the way of some of my thoughts but they also encourage some new concepts and help me develop a clearer understanding on character I don’t normally look at.

What was your favourite part of the book and why?

This was a really hard question to answer because there wasn’t really any part of the book that I had enjoyed more. However, I think that my favourite part of the book was the end where Victoria and all the newborn vampires were finally defeated. I loved this part because the whole point of the book was to finally get rid of these enemies and if this hadn’t of happened the book would have had no purpose. This part of the book was, in my opinion, the best but there was something that I would have liked to change. I found that I would have like the character Bree, who had a small part near the end, to have been alive longer so that I could find out something more about the newborn vampires and how they lived. Luckily there is a short book about Bree’s life so I will definitely be reading that next.

What was your overall impression of the book?

Overall, I really liked the book but there were some things that I found a bit boring and annoying. For example, the main focus of the book was the relationship between Jacob, Bella and Edward. This was like every other love triangle that I have seen in movies and in many other books, and it was never ending. I could tell that Bella really like Jacob and was beginning to fall in love with him but it was also obvious that she would never love him like she loves Edward so it was undeniably easy to tell that it wasn’t going anywhere. I also found that it had all the action packed in to the last few chapters just like Twilight which I both liked and disliked. It was strange to read as I had to pay attention to every detail so that I wouldn’t miss out on anything but I also loved it as it was exciting and thrilling to read about. One main reason why I loved the book was because it picked up where New Moon had finished and there was barely any explanation of the previous 2 books. This is one of the things that always stand out to me because I always read book series in order and it gets on my nerves when there is an explanation of the previous plot lines because it is common sense to read a series in order. The thing I liked the most about Eclipse was that we got hear some stories about the werewolves and learn a bit about how they began and what happened. I liked this because I love learning about the past especially about characters like Jacob because it is interesting what made them become who they are.

Which book did you like better, the first, the second or the third?

I think that New Moon is still my favourite book because Eclipse didn’t really meet the expectations I had for it. Eclipse needed a much better plot and needed a little more mystery to put it over the top. New Moon was more interesting because the story was less romance heavy and more focused on the new friendship between Jacob and Bella. Also I found it really hard to put the book down as Bella was always seeking a new way to threaten her life which was really exciting. There are many twists and turns which make the book that much more intriguing. Although I prefer New Moon I think I prefer the ending of Eclipse because it makes me want to read Breaking Dawn a lot more than I had wanted to read Eclipse. Eclipse also gave me a lot of new knowledge on the werewolves and their previous existence which was really fascinating as I had previously been very curious about it.

Would you recommend this book?  

This is a book that I would recommend. I think that it is most suitable for people over 15 but I think that if you have read any books like this you are sure to love it just as much as I did. Of course if you have read Twilight and New Moon then this is the next book you should read.

Summarise the book in one sentence. (Verdict) 

A thrilling and exciting new vampire novel with more life threatening moments than ever before.

Reviewed by Jimena Gutierrez Reviriego

NEW MOON by Stephenie Meyer

“‘Shoot,’ I muttered when the paper sliced my finger; I pulled it out to examine the damage. A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut. It all happened very quickly then. ‘No!’ Edward roared… Dazed and disoriented, I looked up from the bright red blood pulsing out of my arm – into the fevered eyes of the six suddenly ravenous vampires. For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella could have ever imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning…”

What is the book about?

It’s Bella’s birthday and, although she doesn’t want anyone to make a big deal about it, Edward and his family have planned a party. During the celebration, something goes wrong and Bella is faced with six thirsty vampires. That isn’t the end of Bella’s problems as Edward drifts further away from her with no reasons she can think of. Edwards’s strange behaviour leads to Bella’s worst nightmare, a world without her true love, and as the months go by she still doesn’t recover. But life goes on Bella has to learn to live with the pain and go through each day with a whole in her heart. Then, one day, Bella hears the voice of the one person she thought she would never hear from again and she decides to find new ways to trigger the beautiful sound of Edward. Along the way, she is led towards an old friend and starts to open up again and feel like she used to, but not for long as her new friendship takes a sudden turn making Bella’s life more dangerous than ever before…

What were your initial thoughts on the book?

I was really excited to start reading the book because I had previously read the first book, Twilight, and loved it. I was really attracted to the front cover and I found the picture on the front really beautiful and striking but not as bright and colourful as some books I own, though a festive colour, like pink, doesn’t really scream vampires. Like Twilight, New Moon is a book that is very different to the usual ones I read as most of them aren’t very romantic but, Twilight was so I thought that New Moon was going to be too. As I had enjoyed Twilight, I knew that it was likely that I would also like the second book and that even if I wasn’t sure I should give it a try. It wasn’t hard to start reading and I found that I was soon nearing the end of the book. Before beginning books I always read the blub so that I am more encouraged and will know a little bit about the book. Usually, I find out enough to make me want to read the book in one day, however I think that the blurb in New Moon was a little scarce on details and it didn’t really make me want to read it any more than I already did, but I think the use of a section of the book was really creative and really persuaded me to start right away.

Who was your favourite character and why?

My favourite character in New Moon was Bella, just like in Twilight, because she was willing to drop everything and risk her life to save Edward even after he left her. I think that Bella was really tested in this book and she had to prove her kindness and strength to herself and everyone around her. When Edward left, Bella was portrayed as a very weak character and it was like she was hanging onto one string, about to snap if anyone put the slightest pressure on it.  Bella did show that she cared about her dad as she managed to pull together a bit for him but I could tell she was still lifeless. I did think it was a little crazy how she just happened to make friends with another creature that was meant to be mythical, I think that Bella is a magnet to all things from stories and that she always seems to put herself into a life or death situation, without even trying. Just like in Twilight she wanted to protect her family and her friends from all the chaos she got into, however, I think that if she had considered all those people, like her parents, then she wouldn’t have tried to trigger Edwards’s voice by doing risky and dangerous things, like learning to ride a motorcycle.

What was your favourite part of the book and why?

My favourite part was when Edward and Bella found each other again. I knew it was going to happen, it was easy to predict, but it was still nice to have a happy moment especially seeing as the chapter before this were mainly sad and lonely for Bella apart from when she was with Jacob. I also really liked this part because Edward and Bella were always together in the first book so it was a bit weird to have them separate and not knowing if they would ever see each other again. I knew after reading this that Edward and Bella are better when they are together and that if they are apart they won’t ever be as happy. This was a great part of the book because it showed that love is a blessing and can bring out the best in a person but love is also a curse because it makes you do strange things and can destroy people who can’t cope with losing their soul mate. I am really glad that Edward and Bella were able to be together again because if they hadn’t that would have most likely been the end of the Twilight Saga.

What was your overall impression of the book?

Overall I think the book was really amazing and just as breath-taking as Twilight, I can see why it is so popular. It was really effective how Stephenie Meyer introduced a new mythical creature during the time Edward was away because it kept things interesting and gave Bella something else to do, and another way to be around danger. I also found it was really nice to learn about the past and hear more about the werewolves and it was nice to get a few of the questions I had about them answered.  Nothing in the book really bugged me, the chapters were still long and still had cliff-hangers at the end but I managed to get used to it and now enjoy the suspense in having to wait to find out what happened next, I think that reading New Moon has help me develop some more patience with books, and in general. I found New Moon a more interesting but a little less exciting and action-packed than Twilight however New Moon was still just as exciting to read.

Which book did you like better, the first or the second?

Looking at both books, I think that they were amazing and there isn’t much that makes me like one book over the other. I think that the second book, New Moon, is the book I like most but this is a really hard question. I liked New Moon best because I like learning about the past more than the present because I really like learning about the characters backstories. I think that New Moon includes a lot more about the vampires and how everything started, it also says a lot about the vampires’ enemies and explains a bit about how they are connected. I also like that Bella has a close friend in this book because I think that in Twilight she revolved around Edward and didn’t really connect with anyone like she does with Jacob in the second book.  I also think that there are a lot more characters in this book, a lot of people were mentioned in Twilight but I think that a lot more were involved in the story in New Moon. As a whole, both books were outstanding but I think that New Moon just stood out to me more.

Would you recommend this book?  

I would recommend this book specifically for people over 15 and I think it would be best to read this book after the first book and if you enjoy romance and fantasy books then this is a book you are sure to enjoy.

Summarise the book in one sentence. (Verdict) 

An enchanting and breath-taking tale with a remarkable adventure.

Reviewed by Jimena Gutierrez Reviriego