-The Blood of the Angels-Selena Kitt-5 Stars
The Blood of Angels is a story that follows the world of Zeph, a fate fairy who follows mankind around in order to line up fateful events in humans' lives. She finds herself more and more drawn into human actions and when she meets one that can see her, she uses her annual wish so that she can experience what it's like to be human for one day. I really enjoyed this story. It was very sweet experiencing everything through Zeph's eyes, especially once she became human.
-Deadly Captive-Bianca Sommerland-1 Star
Lydia becomes conscious completely chained up and not remembering anything. The first thing she sees is Joe. This story should have had a warning on it. It starts right off with a situation I don’t care to read about and gets worse from there. I did manage to finish the story out of morbid curiosity but the story really wasn’t for me.
-The Witch's Vampire-Jami Brumfield-2 Stars
Just after her mother succumbs to cancer, Sophie Waters is told that not only is she a witch, but she is to be the town’s next witch doctor. When she takes off in despair, she runs into Giovanni Mancuso, the vampire prince. I started out liking this story, but the farther I got, the less I liked it. I didn’t like the different character switched Sophia seemed to have. I also didn’t like how the POVs changed from paragraph to paragraph. I made it through most of the story, but when the Greek mythology got changed up, I had to stop.
-Bite Marks Rebecca Royce-5 Stars
George is a writer whose determined that Trudy, a bartender at a local bar, is to be his future wife. If only she’d finally go on a date with him. Just as she finally accepts his request, he is bitten by a vampire and left for dead. I really liked this story. It was very fast-paced and kept my interest. Trudy is a real spit-fire. I especially liked her characters. She’s a no-nonsense type of person and finally decides to take what she wants.
I read 4 of the stories in this anthology. I loved two of them and really disliked two of them. That’s odd for me. Usually I tend to like most every story, but that wasn’t the case this time. Because of that, I haven’t finished the anthology. I do highly recommend the two stories that I loved.
**I received an ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review

No, that was Contact. That movie was annoying as hell.

I can't say the alien situation in this book was all that much better.

There is a lot that's enjoyable about Kline's writing. Even with sucky first person and all. He may be headed into overkill with the pop culture references but they are still fun references. And Wil Wheaton's narration is just plain great. He's not the best with accents, unfortunately, but he brings a lot to the characters and sound effects, etc.

There is a lot of preamble before the story actually gets going. It takes place over two days and a lot happens so some of hat beginning could have been cut to get into the action quicker and give more time to areas that need it.

The biggest problem with this book is plausibility. Obviously it's SF/F so you have to suspend disbelief. That's not the problem because everything you question about the alien backstory our protagonist, Zach, questions as well. Still, lampshading something that doesn't make sense without resolution doesn't make it better. It's like when Supernatural admitted to jumping the shark with Papa Winchester's third son in the title of the episode. That doesn't make it okay!!

At the end when

Well, okay, good. But that still leaves the reader in a state of WTF!? at the end. I also had a problem with Zach being allowed to make a choice for everyone.

Also, of course, I really hated what went down with

Sorry this review isn't as helpful to you if you don't want to read spoilers. It's just one of those times it's impossible to talk around what happens.

There are definitely fun aspects to the story but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did Ready Player One.

There is a lot of questionable aspects about this alien invasion story that I don't buy, but thankfully Zach, our protagonist, is questioning everything that doesn't make sense. Humans suck. Of course they could be making this up and it's really us doing the attacking. Too bad he's straight up being manipulated to enlist right now. 

But something that's niggling at me, granted it's very minor but bear with me, is the idea that Star Wars was an anti-alien propaganda film. To us Earthlings everyone in that movie was an alien. The primary conflict wasn't between alien species anyway, but between the Sith and Jedi — multi-alien species groups using different sides of The Force. 

So, it seems to me that as propaganda that film fails big-time. 

P.S. - Safari spellcheck recognizes Jedi but does not recognize Sith. Rude.

I can't wait to get to these, I've been meaning to read them for so long!

Frida by Bárbara Mujica

ISBN: 9780452283039

Blurb: Narrated by Frida Kahlo's younger sister, Cristina, this haunting and powerful fictional account chronicles Kahlo's life, from a childhood shadowed by polio to the accident at eighteen that left her barren, from her marriage to larger-than-life muralist Diego Rivera through her tragic decline into alcoholism and drug abuse. Through it all, Cristina is her sister's intimate confidante -- and then her bitter antagonist when she has a not-so-secret affair with Rivera. A towering tale of love, jealousy, betrayal, and sibling rivalry played out on a teeming canvas, Frida captures the essence of a passionate, tormented, and ferociously gifted woman. It is a compelling and intensely human portrait of an artist who would become an enduring icon for generations to come.

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

ISBN: 9781849015899

Blurb: The women of Stepford are not all that they seem...All the beautiful people live in idyllic Stepford, Connecticut, an affluent, suburban Eden populated with successful, satisfied hubbies and beautiful, dutiful wives. For Joanna Eberhart, newly arrived with her husband and two children, it all seems too good to be true - from the sweet Welcome Wagon lady to all those cheerful, friendly faces in the supermarket checkout lines. But just beneath the town's flawless surface, something is sordid and wrong - something abominable with roots in the local Men's Association. And it may already be too late for Joanna to save herself from being devoured by Stepford's hideous perfection.

Ojos de Perro Azul by Gabriel García Márquez

ISBN: 9789871138074

Blurb: Estos relatos tempranos de Gabriel García Márquez fueron escritos y publicados entre 1947 y 1955, aunque, como libro, Ojos de perro azul no aparecería hasta 1974 cuando el escritor ya había publicado otros dos libros de relatos y cuatro novelas, de las que la última, "Cien años de soledad", le proporcionaría su primer gran éxito internacional. 
En este libro se incluye su primer cuento célebre, el "Monólogo de Isabel viendo llover en Macondo", escenario de sus obras posteriores. El personaje de Isabel reaparecerá en su primera novela, y el tema de la lluvia cayendo interminablemente, en su personal versión del diluvio universal, acabaría integrándose suave y flexiblemente en "Cien años de soledad". Este relato, incluido en todas las antologías del cuento latinoamericano de nuestros días, fue la primera piedra de ese gigantesco edificio, tan imaginario como real, que terminaría fundando el espacio literario más poderoso de las letras universales de nuestro tiempo: Macondo.

The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

ISBN: 9781841154930

Blurb: One night in 1939, Josef Kavalier shuffles into his cousin Sam Clay's cramped New York bedroom, his nerve-racking escape from Prague finally achieved. Little does he realise that this is the beginning of an extraordinary friendship and even more fruitful business partnership. Together, they create a comic strip called 'The Escapist', its superhero a Nazi-busting saviour who liberates the oppressed around the world. 'The Escapist' makes their fortune, but Joe can think of only one thing: how can he effect a real-life escape, and free his family from the tyranny of Hitler?

Michael Chabon's exceptional novel is a thrilling tight-rope walk between high comedy and bitter tragedy, and confirms his position as one of the most inventive and daring of contemporary American writers. In Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay, he has created two unforgettable characters bound together by love, family and cartoons.