Sunstone Volume 1 Book Review

Sunstone is a comic about 2 women with unmet desires. Both into BDSM, one domme, one sub. They meet online, talk for a couple months and eventually meet in person to play out their fantasies. It's a romantic comedy and while it is erotic and has sex it is never just about the sex.

The Blurb

"Two women deal with modern themes of sex, relationships, and fetishism in this erotic romantic comedy. So beware all who enter, because, to quote a few hundred thousand readers on DeviantArt: "I'm not into BDSM...but this story...I get it.""

I loved this comic! It talks about how trust is important in a BDSM relationship. How nervousness and human feelings surface, in all parties. It also has humor and great artwork. To quote part of some other reviews because I can't say it better..

"Does this comic have BDSM? Yes. Does it put Fifty Shades to complete shame? Yes. Do I very highly recommend it to anyone and everyone? Yes. Go read it. Because it's the quirkiest, most charming romantic comedy you'll ever read. Yes, there's sex, but it's never just about the sex. It's about these two ladies who are really into BDSM but have never felt super comfortable exploring that passion with someone else. But then they meet online and then in person and it's just so much fun."

And part of another one

"If I catch you reading Fifty Shades of Grey, I am going to politely remove it from your grasp and hand you a copy of Sunstone instead. And if you’re into great characters and wonderful, sweet, funny romance stories that explore sexuality, then I am also going to hand you a copy of Sunstone. To be clear, this is a story that heavily features BDSM, but I want you to set aside any preconceived notions you have about that and read it anyway. First of all, it is an incredibly beautiful, informative, and healthy exploration of sexuality that forces us to acknowledge that sex is a completely normal part of our lives which we need to stop being so damn taboo about. Now, while BDSM might be a kink for some people, that does not make it any less important as a part of sexual exploration. But the key to BDSM is something that, unlike Fifty Shades, Sunstone makes very clear: BDSM is about consent and it is about trust."

There was no point in me trying to say it in my own words when those describe it so perfectly! My only regret? That I have to wait at least a month to get the rest of the volumes! I don't know if it's done or not but there are 4 volumes and i've only got and read the first one. I can't wait to pick up the rest!

As someone into BDSM, with trust and consent involved *cough unlike 50 shades of abuse cough*, I adored this comic! I just had to give it 5 stars!

The Awakened Book Review

The Awakened by Sara Elizabeth Santana.

"Zoey Valentine is concerned with two things: surviving the multitude of self-defense classes her dad makes her take and avoiding Ash Matthews.

That is, until the Z virus hits, wiping out a third of the population in a matter of weeks. If that weren’t frightening enough, the bodies of the victims disappear and suddenly reappear, awakened from their dead state. They're faster, smarter, and they work together to get the one thing they crave, human flesh.

The United States is in a panic and then the government decides the unthinkable: to bomb every major city overrun with the awakened.

Now Zoey is on the run, with her dad and Ash, desperate to find a place of safety amongst the ruined remains of the country."

That blurb sounds very interesting, and it is true to the book of course. Sadly it left me disappointed.

Don't get me wrong I don't hate the book entirely, though I do very much dislike many parts of it. The premise and plot was interesting.

There are many errors in this book. Not just one here or there, but many throughout the entire book. It felt poorly written to me in general as well. Both of these things though I could overlook and still enjoy a book...but there's more.

The romance in this book is my biggest gripe. The guy is a complete jerk, at least through much of the book. Zoey appears to want nothing to do with him and says as much over and over but no one will just let her be. It seems like just because he is hot she is supposed to fall at his feet! Forget all the teasing, the horrible way he treats her, juts forget it all because H-O-T is all that matters! UGH! No one will take "No" for an answer. And *spoiler alert* they do apparently fall in love, but it seems so unbelievable to me. Things went back and forth a lot. Some stuff (not just the romance) didn't make much sense to me.

It never engaged me that much. Some parts did, it has it's good points, but it never kept me. I never wondered about the book in between reading it. I never wanted to continue reading it but felt like I had to for some reason. It also feels very forgettable to me.

Ultimately I gave it a 2.5 out of 5 stars. A strong 2 on Goodreads because there really were parts that I did enjoy but mostly...no. I doubt i'll pick up the second book whenever it's released as it's set to be a duology.

January 2016 Stats

Book #1- Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Gender: Male
Country: USA
Genre1: Fantasy
Genre2: Young Adult
Book Type: Paperback
Pages: 370 (aprox.)
Published: June 7th, 2011
Star rating: 2.5 out of 5
Series: Trilogy
Date Started: Jan 1st, 2016
Date Finished: Jan 3rd, 2016
Days Read: 3
State of book: New

Book #2- The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Gender: Male
Country: Scotland
Genre: Classics
Book type: Paperback
Pages: 54
Published: 1886
Star rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Standalone
Date started: Jan 8th, 2016
Date Finished: Jan 10th, 2016
Days Read: 2
State of book: New

Book #3-4- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
Author: Lewis Carroll
Gender: Male
Country: UK
Genre: Children's Classics
Book Type: Paperback
Pages: 230
Published: 1865 & 1871
Star Rating: 4.75 & 4.25 averaging 4.5 overall
Series: 2 books
Date started: Jan 11th, 2016
Date Finished: Jan 14th, 2016
Days Read: 3
State of book: New

Book #5- Lolita
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
Gender: Male
Country: Russia
Genre: Classics
Book Type: Paperback
Pages: 317
Published: 1955
Star Rating: 4.75 out of 5
Standalone
Date Started: Jan 15th, 2016
Date Finished: Jan 18th, 2016
Days Read: 4
State of book: New

Book #6- The Vampire Lestat
Author: Anne Rice
Gender: Female
Country: USA
Genre1: Horror
Genre2: Adult
Book Type: Paperback
Pages: 550
Published: 1985
Star Rating: 4 stars
Series (#2)
Date Started: Jan 21st, 2016
Date Finished: Jan 29th, 2016
Days Read: 9
State of book: New

Book #7- The Awesome
Author: Eva Darrows
Gender: Female
Country: USA
Genre: Young Adult
Book Type: Paperback
Pages: 246
Published: 2015
Star Rating: 4.75 stars
Standalone
Date Started: Jan 30th, 2016
Date Finished: Jan 31st, 2016
Days Read: 2
State of book: New

Pages read in January: ~1887
Average per day: ~60
Average rating: 4.14 (3.47 if you count all 20 Grimm's fairy tales)

I've also read the first 20 short stories of "The complete Grimm's Fairy Tales" of which there are 210. I plan on reading it throughout the year. I'm rating each story individually so I can average them out when i'm done for an overall rating. I'm going to count collections of short stories as only one book (otherwise it'd be crazy) but bind ups, like Alice in wonderland/Through the looking glass, each book separately only because that's easier for me. I am mostly enjoying the fairy tales so far. :) Counting the pages

The Awesome by Eva Darrows Book Review

The Awesome is about 17 year old Maggie. Raised in the monster hunting business she's quite the character. She is sassy, has a crude mouth, tough, and is into survival and monster hunting more than anything. Ghosts, Vampires, Zombies? Yeah...they are all real. It does have Buffy and Supernatural vibes too.

Unfortunately for Maggie in order to get her journeyman license she has to lose her virginity because virgin blood turns vampires into pointy rage monsters, they just love the stuff. Trying to find herself someone to do the deed with and fit in with her fellow peers proves more daunting than she expected.

This book is about more than just what it sounds like though! It's funny, crude, action-packed, has great themes, feelings, and a mother-daughter relationship that while not perfect, they do love each other!

If you are not into language and crude humor, you won't like this book. If that doesn't bother you be prepared to laugh! Through Maggie trying to lose the big V and the blunders that happen, through her mom's shenanigans, and Maggie's sense of humor and personality it was quite a fun ride! There is more to this book though, short and easy to read as it may be!

First I want to mention that it is brought up that same-sex sex would STILL count in losing the big V. Maggie is straight but at one point, wondering herself, it is brought up that there are lesbian hunters they know and Maggie asked how that worked...to which she got an answer with more information than she wanted. So I really liked that aspect of it!

Maggie has insecurities like most teenage girls do, and the real talk about these insecurities was refreshing. There is some romance in this book, and personally I found it sweet, real and I loved it!

Her mother, has her own problems and flaws as well, but above all does love her daughter, and she tries to be a good mother even when she doesn't really have a clue how to be. She isn't perfect but she tries and loves her daughter. She also doesn't see sex as taboo or something shameful. One part of the book says

"You realize it's totally screwed up that you're fine with me finding a piece of random ass, right? You should be going on some spiel about self-respect right now.
"Why's that?"
"I dunno. Most mothers would."
"Well then most mothers think sex is shameful for a woman and I think that's a heaping pile of shit. As long as you're okay and your boy treated you right, no spiel. If he treated you bad, i'll cram his dick down his throat and watch him choke."

So that does show some of the language in the book, but personally it didn't bother me at all, but I know some people it might, as it does get quite a bit, but it also shows a part of the book I adored. The theme of sex isn't shameful, it's natural and shouldn't be a taboo in and of itself.

This book also goes into loving yourself and your body for who you are. In the acknowledgements at the end of the book "If people take anything away from this book (beyond bawdy humor and a few new creative curse words) it's that the world isn't ever going to validate you, so you better get good at doing it yourself. There's no shame in knowing your worth as a human being-in knowing how awesome you really are"

I loved that this book took real flaws, and insecurities, and talked about them in a real way. I could relate to some of Maggie's insecurities myself and i'm sure others out there would to. The synoposis makes it sound like it's all about getting "The Sex" and it's not. That is a PART of it, not all of it! There is so much more with the parent-child relationship and Maggie's insecurities. It's a fun, funny, short kick-ass book with some feelings thrown it and great messages!

4.75 stars out of 5 from me and another favorite book!