@mayadaniels11, #Paranormal, #Romance, #Urban, #Fantasy, 4 out of 5 (very good)

The Devil is in the Details is the first book in the Broken Halos series, and we meet Eric and Helena (Hel). At first glance, they appear to be on opposing sides, but not everything is as it seems. Eric is a Demon, whereas Hel is a Hunter. When Eric is approached by one of Helena's bosses, with a kill order and a special deal for the Demons, he wonders what is going on. None of that matters once he sees Hel though, and he will do ANYTHING to protect her.

This was a fast-paced, fun-filled, frolic of a book. I loved Hel's sassy attitude, and I thought her grief over her best friend was incredibly written. She admits she just wants to wake up, and owns her temper tantrums, apologising as necessary. Eric is the bad boy of the Demon world, and I loved him. There were two revelations about him, which shocked Hel both times. The first one I can understand, but the second? Surely if he is the first, the second is part of the same? (Trying so hard not to do spoilers here!!!)

This is an extremely well-written book that gives enough world-building for you to get to grips with their world, whilst still leaving more to come. This does end on a cliff-hanger, so fair warning. A thoroughly enjoyable first installment, and I can't wait for the second. Absolutely recommended by me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

I can not say enough good things about this story. I read this book as a child, and have re-read it as an adult. The message still holds true! The text is so rich and filled with sensory details. I would love to do an entire novel study on this book. I would start by reading the chapters aloud to students. This would be a wonderful time to reflect on the language and have them turn and talk to discuss specific phrases. I would use this book in science lessons and study spiders! I would ask students to draw and label the parts of a spider. I would also extend this theme into writing. I would give the students several prompts while covering this text, such as: Would you like to have a pet pig? How did Charlotte save Wilbur's life? Choose an adjective that describes you; draw it in a web and write a paragraph explaining why you chose it. A fun way to end this unit would be to act out the story, or to watch the movie!

Guided Reading - R

Lexile - 680L

DRA - 40 

AR - 4.4

I just deleted my review without publishing it. I was about to hit "save" button, when I realised that there is not a single positive word that I can write here about this whole ordeal. Instead, here is a simple list of issues I came cross:

- 24 year old manchild, and not the fun Jack Sparrow or Tom Hanks (referring to movie "Big") type;

- 24 year old manchild who by some mighty miracle survived as a pirate and a captain to be 24 years old;

- hygiene;

- neglect. Because letting the poor boy run around in wet clothes, while dirty and stinky is neglect;

- commas. OMG, they are killing this story! Not there is much to kill, but they are the proverbial kick, delivered to someone who is already down :/

I really don't know how the two MCs survived; one as a pirate for as long as he did, the other one as a Hunter. Must be by some miracle/fairy godmother.

There were times when this book was a big deal and everyone and their cousin was reading it and loving it. It was such a hype! *sigh* What a disappointment in turned out to be! :(

PS I wish Samantha Cayto re-wrote it. After all, there is a potential here, it's the execution that's lacking :(

I could use The True Story of the Three Little Pigs in a few different ways, all of which I would do in my class for second to sixth graders. The first way is in a fairytale study on different versions of the same story. In this study, I would have my students read different versions of The Three Little Pigs and then have them compare and contrast each version. However, for fourth grade through sixth, I would use this book to mimic the judicial system. In other words, I would have the students work in groups to present a case either for or against the wolf. In their case, they would have to come up with three details from the text to act as evidence. To make it a bit more fun, the students would have to come up with what they thought would be a suitable punishment for the wolf if they believe he is indeed guilty. Once a group presents their case for or against the wolf, I would have the rest of the class act as a jury and give a thumbs up if they agree with the group or thumbs down if they do not.