Michael Vey, The Prisoner of Cell 25, a book review

 Michael Vey is mentioned in at least the Cap'N Hugh "Strongback" Golly YouTube in which he reads When I Was a Chef, I Had a Pirate Crew.  If you've seen that and hadn't already read Michael Vey, maybe you followed the link included there and have already read the book which is the subject of this review.  If you found it through that YouTube, let me know!  If this is the first time you've heard of it, let me know that, too.  I love to know when I'm able to direct folks toward new and enjoyable reads!

This is an enjoyable read, for sure.  Michael Vey, The Prinsoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans.  I believe the author had youth around 15 or 16 years old and older in mind as his target audience when he wrote this book.  I did allow my eldest daughter to read it a few years ago when she was nine and didn't regret it.  Though the intended audience may be teenagers, I did enjoy it.

A story about youth who are burdened with extra-ordinary abilities, this first book in the series follows Michael Vey as he works to manage his powers while also figuring out how to free some people he loves.

It is well written and an easy read.  The chapters are often very short, which lends to the feeling of moving quickly through the story.  It is the first in a series.  The sixth of which will be available Fall of 2016.  My two eldest and I await the release of the sixth in the series with great anticipation.

Nightmares, a book review

Nightmares, by Jason Segal and Kirsten Miller, is a pretty good book.

Before I share about the book specifically, I have to tell you about my experience of reading it.  I'm telling the absolute honest-to-goodness truth with absolutely no exaggeration, so... there's that.

So, I started reading Nightmares.  I was able to make myself put it down when I felt tired.  So, under normal circumstances I might not have resumed reading it right away.  However, that night, I had a nightmare.  I don't remember really anything about it as far as the dream itself goes.  I only remember waking in the dream and realizing I was dreaming and that it wasn't real, it was only a nightmare.  Then, instead of the thing ending, I felt like I was rerunning horrible parts over and over in my mind.

I literally had to stop myself and decide another subject on which to focus.  Even so, the nightmare kept trying to continue to play.  I had to almost completely wake up to get out of the loop.

Also, my two eldest girls had already either just started or finished it started to have bad dreams right around the time they started to read it.  Strangely, my husband and oldest son, who didn't start reading it, had some pretty bad dreams as well.  The bad dreams spread...  and if you've read the story, you know!

Call it a coinkydink if you want.  I won't.  I believe there are no coincidences.

So, Nightmares...is geared toward tweens and possibly young teens.  Nonetheless, I enjoyed it quite well.  The beginning was pretty scary to me.  Yes, I'm a woosey when it comes to scary stuff.

This story, as with my very favorite reads, points the reader to some strong and even profound truth... or maybe more than one.

Check it out and let me know what you think!  If you've already read it, without giving the story away, what did you think of it?