Review: The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron

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I stumbled across the trait called “Highly Sensitive Person" while I read the comment section on a YouTube video that I was watching. I was curious about what exactly it was and decided to search on Google. I got a general idea of the trait and all of the new articles and websites cited that The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron was the best book to learn more about the trait. It took several months for me to actually purchase the book. But after reading, I can say that I have no regrets about buying this book.

The Highly Sensitive Person is an in depth examine of what exactly a highly sensitive person is. And what is a highly Sensitive person, you may ask? Well, according to Dr. Aron “highly sensitive person (HSP) has a sensitive nervous system, is aware of subtleties in his/her surroundings, and is more easily overwhelmed when in a highly stimulating environment”. A highly Sensitive person may be described by others as being shy, overwhelmed, and sensitive. It is someone who walks in the room and basically feels every emotion of everyone in there.

Throughout the book, Dr. Aron provides several examples of a highly Sensitive person and tips on how they can navigate the world. It is very informative; especially since I think I may be a highly sensitive person. It provided a lot of information and the author did a great job of making sure that it wasn’t overwhelming.

Essentially, this could be described as a psychological book. It is written by someone with a Ph D. Its dealing with the human psyche and how we interact with the world. And in sometimes in books like this the author tends to use concepts or ideas that a normal person without a Ph.D may not understand. It could also be seen as textbooky sounding. Fortunately, that is not the case for The Highly Sensitive Person. Most things were explained clearly, and it avoided over usage of jargon. The author doesn’t dumb it down to much, but nevertheless, she makes it easy to understand.

Final Analysis

The Highly Sensitive Person is a great in depth look into what exactly is a highly Sensitive person. It provides real stories from real people with the trait and ways for how someone with the trait could navigate the world. This book is just for those who are highly Sensitive. This book could be read by anyone who is looking to understand people. It has a lot of useful knowledge in there.

Review: Joanna's Journey by Karen Mossman

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Summary:

Most girls just want to find their one true love. Sisters, Joanna and Sandie are no exception.

While Joanna falls for rock singer Niko, Sandie’s choice leaves Joanna reeling and causes a rift in their relationship.

Niko’s music always comes first, and Joanna accepts being second best. She promises never to ask anything from him. But when she becomes entangled in a violent shooting she finds herself lost, frightened and alone.

Will Niko stand by her side or will he choose the path to stardom?

Set in the 80s with a soundtrack of music and fashion, Joanna’s Journey travels a road where sometimes love is not enough.

Review:

To be honest, this one I’m on the fence about a few things. I’m all over books with the rock star romance and the summary really piqued my interest. I went in expecting two things, the rockstar thing happening and the family dynamic between the sisters. As much as I feel the individual storylines came together, I didn’t feel the book captured the potential of the plot that it could’ve been.

Let’s start with Joanna and Niko. The development of them meeting and her finding out he was a rock star, that was good. I was really excited to see where that was headed. From there, it seems like their story became secondary. All the other detours she took with meeting other people and their experiences brought down the excitement for me because it seems like it became less about them and more about the other people. I will admit that in the context of the plot that I read, I was surprised the way the plot turned out, so we’ll see what is to come.

The storyline with her sister was really good. I know they had separate lives but considering how all they had was each other, there were a couple of big moments that I was wandering why her sister wasn’t there. For example, when the stepsister was found dead, she couldn’t reach other. When she was supposed to be with her at the inquisition and face their mother, she disappeared. Those were major moments in the book that would’ve gave more to the story and their relationship. Wish the ending could’ve been different for them but it put things in perspective for the Joanna.

There is a second book that continues with this story. I saw that it reintroduces Niko, we’ll see how this plays out.

Review: Off Center by M.F. Lorson

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Off Center was a surprising cute and entertaining YA book. It centers on Lane, a high schooler, who has has three main goals. She wants to get a full ride to a Northwestern University, win the title of American High School Journalist of the year, and have her first kiss with her crush since middle school. Unbeknownst to Lane, achieving those goals are going to be a lot harder than she had assumed.

One overarching theme is the idea of having this wonderful idea of how everything is supposed to turn out. You're basically looking with rose painted glasses and unfortunately when something unexpected happens you're completely thrown off balance. And while trying to achieve your original goals, you realize that what you found in the process was much better than what you had originally wanted. That was a descriptive and vague way to describe what Lane encounters in Off Center.

Although, I overall enjoyed Off Center I was not too keen on the major twist. In a book, that almost feels playful and light, the twist felt unwarranted. I get that it was there to give more depth to Lane but I would have enjoyed if the author had went another route. The twist weighed the book and suddenly it got almost too real.

Characters

As a main character, Lane was great. She had this likable factor about her. In addition, she had such a unique voice which was refreshing. I would enjoy to continue to follow this character's journey. She has such an interesting perspective and it would be amazing to see what happens next for her.

Her relationship with her mother was adorable. And it is a shame that there were only a handful of scenes with her.

Final Analysis

Off Center is an adorable YA book with more pros than cons.

Review: The Scribe by A. A. Chaudhuri

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Summary

Making it as a lawyer has always been a cutthroat business.

But now that a sadistic serial killer is on the loose the consequences could prove deadly… A killer is targeting former students of The Bloomsbury Academy of Law. The victims – all female – are gruesomely butchered according to a pattern corresponding with the legal syllabus. Even more disconcerting are riddles sent by the killer to investigating officer, Chief Inspector Jake Carver, offering clues as to who is next and where they will die.

Up-and-coming lawyer Madeline Kramer, a former classmate of a number of the slain, soon finds her life turned upside down by the savagery. And when she decides to help Carver track down the killer, she places herself in mortal danger. Can Maddy unscramble the complex riddles, and save her own life and those of others destined to die?

A. A. Chaudhuri’s Ripper-like mystery, The Scribe, throws down a challenge even hardened crime thriller fans will be unable to resist.

Review

I don’t even know where to start with this book. What you think you know, you have no idea. My biggest frustration was that I couldn’t read fast enough because my mind was flipped so many times trying to keep up with the curveballs thrown within the plot. This was definitely a page turner.

The plot I thought was brilliant. You don’t see what’s coming. It was well thought out, meticulous with details, much of that attributed to her experience of being a lawyer. It sort of felt like Jumanji. Every plot twist had the potential to fall but you’re led in another direction that just builds upon each other until everything comes falling down unexpectedly. If this is what the first book of the series brings, I can’t wait to see what’s to come. I have some high expectations for book two. You will not be disappointed. This is one thriller that you will not want to put down. I’d recommend adding this to your TBR.

Review: Mister Sam Shearon's Creepy Christmas: A Merry Macabre Coloring Book by Sam Shearon

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Summary

(A Merry Macabre Coloring Book)

T he happiest time of the year is also the creepiest.

Winter has an even darker and richer lore than Halloween. For centuries, people have feared creatures from ancient legends born of this time of year. Tales such as giant hairy monsters who live in the mountains and will snatch you up and eat you were used to ensure children didn't wander off in the snow and become lost.

These were indeed just stories … or were they?

This festive feast of fear contains 40 original hand-drawn and inked illustrations from a variety of traditional beliefs and legends from around the world, including British, North American, Nordic, Icelandic, Austrian, and Germanic folklore. Mister Sam Shearon’s Creepy Christmas features characters such as Krampus, Grýla, Santa Claws, Rabid Rudolph, the Grimace Tree, the Wendigo, the Snow Bear, the Yule Cat, the Abominable Snowman, and many more. Ready for you to bring to colorful life with fearsome festive cheer, each page is also accompanied with a poem—a guide to these creepy creatures from the season of ice and snow!

Review

On a whim to venture out of my normal vanilla selections, Creepy Christmas caught my attention to venture out and try something new. Creepy but interesting, this was definitely a surprise for me. Based on traditional beliefs and legends globally to inspire its original illustrations, Mister Sam Shearon’s Creepy Christmas is definitely one for the adults.

My initial expectation was that this was an adult coloring book but once you go through, it’s much more beyond that. Each illustration represents creatures from ancient legends accompanied with a poem. Despite it’s dark gothic edge, I really appreciate the detailed artwork . Ironically, this is meant to be colored but I feel like I wouldn’t want to ruin the beautiful detailed illustrations. Overall, if you’re into this genre, than you will appreciate the artistic creativity and the inspired expression.

Review: Thirteen Across by Dan Grant

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Summary:
With the clock running fast and societies livelihood on your back, could you solve THIRTEEN ACROSS: A Puzzle with a Violent Solution?

In present-day Washington, DC, a brilliant, tech-savvy madman with an agenda has concocted a labyrinthine trail of terrorism with an FBI special agent named Kate Morgan at the end. It appears he wants her dead. In the opening scene of Dan Grant’s newest thriller, Kate finds herself crawling over body parts to escape an underground subway train wreck. Kate was on her way to a congressional hearing where she’d been summarily summoned, most certainly already in big trouble with the federal government. Stunned from the horrific attack on the train, Kate is shocked and confused when cops find a briefcase with her name on it shoved under a bench at the subway station. Inside is a page of human skin, tattooed with a set of seven clues coinciding with seven subway stops that will unlock the mystery of what’s happening and sending the FBI, the Army, and Kate herself on a grisly chase.

Review:

For those of you who love suspense and thrillers, Thirteen Across takes you on a labyrinth of plot twists through riddles leading to the ultimate crossword finale chase.

I’ll be honest. It took me a while to get into the book. This wasn’t your typical suspense thriller novel. It was detailed with scientific, technical medical jargon to support the facts in the plot. At times it was a little distracting but overall I found the intention of where the storyline was heading worth investing to where it would go. I found it creative and unique using the premise of the cross word puzzle guiding the plot to solve the crime.

I didn’t realize going into this book that there was another book that would’ve introduced Kate and Philip better. Since I didn’t read it, I can’t tell you how much of an influence this would have here but I think there’s enough to base your conclusions on this as a standalone. You do get a good idea of who they are as people and the plot is straight forward from there. Despite this, it might be beneficial to read first for background information.

The character Kate in the book it’s worth mentioning as a fantastic female lead character in the book. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her early on but as the book progressed she became more likable and I felt drawn to her every move.

As a former DMV resident, it was easy to picture the action in the book of the locations and that gave it piqued my interest a little more. It gives these places a more realistic visual and makes me hope that what happened in the plot stays on the fictional side.

This was a different genre for me that I would’ve never jumped right in partly due to the scientific elements but it opened my interests for the future. Some fascinating elements to note was that it touched on was medical research teetering on the conversation of bio-genetics and training humans in the lab. This put a different perspective on this subject as well as visiting the theme of autonomous vehicles gave it an interesting twist in thought.

I’m on the fence about a couple of things. There was some information that came out towards the later part of the book that may have benefited the story in the beginning. I think it would’ve given the reader a different point of view but aren’t sure if that was intentional or not. My opinion is that it would’ve influenced the perception of the characters where we may have understood them better rather than make presumptions from the plot. Second, I wish there could’ve been a better resolution for some of the characters involved because I was curious what happened. Not sure if they will be revisited in the next book but we’ll see what happens next.

Overall, this was a good read once it got going for me. Nice thriller with an interesting plot. Nonstop action with some interesting twists thrown in the plot. If you like medical thrillers, check this one out.