#ThrowbackThursday Review- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
By: J. K. Rowling
Website: https://www.pottermore.com/
Release Date: June 26, 1997
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Series: Harry Potter, Book #1
Award: National Book Award (UK) 1997, British Book Award for Children's Book of the Year (1998), Smarties Prize (1997), and many, many more.
Rating:


I haven’t reread Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone since middle school, probably. My little paperback is beaten up now, passed along to my siblings before being returned significantly more worn than the last I’d seen it. Pages are missing along with the back cover. The spine is split in two. Small, triangular holes line a few of the pages where my parrot sat and gnawed on the book as I read. A giant sticker, one of those large, badge-like ones they give out at doctor’s offices, is tucked between the pages, buried near the end of the book where it was once used as a bookmark.

I can’t help but smile as I look at the book, and I wondered how unbiased of a review I could truly make this. The nostalgia factor is alive and well with this one, after all. I read the first book when I was 11, and the last book was released the summer I graduated high school. Harry Potter bookended my childhood. But, I’ve tried my best to maintain an open, unbiased opinion. Here goes!

Review: The Selection

The Selection
By: Kiera Cass
Website: http://www.kieracass.com/
Release Date: April 24th 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: The Selection Series
Award: Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee (2015)
Rating:


The Selection is one of the books I looked at with curiosity but hesitation. I’m not one for girls in pretty ballgowns, I prefer heroines battling their own enemies while wearing pants and having swords clash around them. Still, America Singer’s story pulled me in. I am well aware this is not everyone’s cup of tea (reviews on Goodreads will show that) but let me explain why I give this a high rating and why you should at least give it a shot.

Review – Remnants of Trust by Elizabeth Bonesteel

Remnants of Trust
By: Elizabeth Bonesteel
Website: https://elizabethbonesteel.wordpress.com/
Release Date: November 8, 2016
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Series: Central Corps #2
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


This week marked the release of Remnants of Trust, the second novel in the Central Corps series by Elizabeth Bonesteel. This is a fast paced military science fiction novel that has a lot going for it. The story begins with Captain Greg Foster and Commander Elena Shaw, freshly returned from a court martial and assigned to the relatively empty Third Sector. But things aren’t quite as quiet as they assumed as the Exeter, another ship from Central Gov, is attacked by raiders. Even after the Orunmila, a PSI ship, comes to the rescue the ship is destroyed, half the crew is dead, and the captain maimed. To top it off, a traitorous saboteur is on the loose.

Review: Outlander (Outlander #1)

Outlander
By: Diana Gabaldon
Website: http://www.dianagabaldon.com/
Release Date: June 1, 1991
Publisher: Dell Publishing Company
Series: Outlander Series
Award: RITA Award by Romance Writers of America for Best Romance of 1991 (1992), Puddly Award for Romance (2001)
Rating:


 Not only is this book series originally published before I could pronounce the word Outlander it was published at perhaps the perfect time to receive the acclaim that it did. Now, with the books adapted to Starz as a regular series the popularity of the books has again been brought back to the forefront which is how I happened upon them. 

Diana Gabladon took a concept and literally ran with it throughout this series and I can safely say that I will be reading all of them. In the first installment we are asked to believe quite a bit but as a fantasy/sci-fi reader at heart I readily believed that the events in this book could happen and were indeed worth reading about. The question to everyone who is considering reading this series is can you believe in Gabladon’s story? 

Review: Survive the Night

Survive the Night
By: Danielle Vega
Website: http://www.daniellerollins.com/
Release Date: July 7th 2015
Publisher: Razorbill
Rating:


High hopes for this book were, unfortunately, dashed. The cover was intriguing and I had hoped for a great story. I don’t normally read what could be considered horror and so, given that I’d heard of the success of Vega’s other book The Merciless (which I have yet to read)  I took a chance. I sort of which I hadn’t.