4 Days Until 2017 | 8 Nights of Books from @booksbeyondimagining

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4 Anticipated Disappointments

1. You (You #1) by Caroline Kepnes: This was really cool for about 33% of the book. I was disturbed and freaked out, then Joe just got more and more annoying. He was whiny and there was way too much inner dialogue (yes, I know it's in second person in his brain, but come on). The action/scary parts weren't as scary as they could have been because they were just glossed over. In the end, I was just underwhelmed.
2. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn: Why did I bother with this? I HATE Gone Girl, what made me think I would like this one? This book is like, "How many plot twists can I fit into 80 pages?" the game. Ugh.
3. A Midsummer Night's Scream by R.L. Stine: You'd think that the most acclaimed children's horror writer would write an awesome YA horror novel. Well, you'd be wrong. I found the characters to be shallow and uninteresting and the plot tried it's darnedest to be an interpretation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, but it just falls flat. 
4. And I Darken by Kiersten White: I really wanted to like this book, knowing that it's LGBTQIA and female villain protagonist and all that jazz, but I felt that nothing really happened. I decided to listen to it, but I felt like it was going no where. I think I got about five hours in and I was just bored. I ended up DNF'ing it.

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RBD Review #24 | The Accidental Cannibal by Dale Rutter

**I was approached by the author and given a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Book info:
The Accidental Cannibal by Dale Rutter | 301 pages
| Self-published, June 2016 by the author | Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Supernatural

Summary:
Samuel is a cannibal by accident.
The year is 1071. William the Conqueror is King and the land is still ravaged after his conquest of England.
In a small dystopian village, a famine ensues. Some resort to cannibalism. It wasn't Samuel’s choice. Unbeknownst to him, his parents fed him human meat when he was younger. He doesn't blame them, times were hard but he now has an ongoing battle with his unwanted addiction to cannibalism. He is flawed.
However, he isn't a normal cannibal, it's changed him in ways he didn't know possible.
He acquires abilities from his cannibalism but at great sacrifice to himself.
Part of the abilities torment Samuel though, it questions whether the cannibalism is right. He considers quitting but it's not that easy. The urges are too overwhelming.
Too controlling.
Also, whilst hunting, he runs into a mysterious sinister stranger, a fellow ‘powered cannibal’ who complicates things beyond comprehension; Samuel wants to quit but what if he needs his abilities if things get ugly? When things get ugly. Will he even keep his abilities if he quit the cannibalism?
Together with his friend Lizzie; his rock and voice of reason, they must battle Samuel’s demons as well as the pompous stranger who has big dark plans for the world.
Lives will be lost and Samuel will unravel a world unimaginable to him including more ‘powered cannibals’ just like him but how far will he delve into the unknown world before it costs him and those around him? (courtesy of Goodreads)

My thoughts:
DNF at 10% (3 chapters) on July 16, 2016 | 1.5 stars

*NEW* RBD Review #27 | The Alienation of Courtney Hoffman by Brady Stefani

Book info:
The Alienation of Courtney Hoffman by Brady Stefani | 282 pages | Published June 2016 by Spark Press | YA , Sci Fi, Coming of Age

Summary:
Fifteen year old Courtney wants to be normal like her friends. But there’s something frighteningly different about her—and it’s not just the mysterious tattoo her conspiracy-obsessed grandfather marked her with before he disappeared. She's being visited in her bedroom at night by aliens claiming to have shared an alliance with her grandfather. And imaginary or not, they're starting to to take over her mind. “Mental illness is a slippery slope,” her mother warns her.

The last thing Courtney wants to do is end up crazy and dead like her grandfather did. But what about the tattoo? And the aliens trying to recruit her? With her new alien-savvy friend Agatha and her apocalyptic visions, Courtney begins connecting the dots between the past, present and future—of her bloodline, and the ancient history that surrounds it. Is she going insane, like her family claims her grandfather did, or is she actually a "chosen one" with ancestral connections to another world? Either way, Courtney has a mission: untangle her past, discover the truth, and stop the apocalypse before it's too late for everyone.

My thoughts:
Read July 28-September 12, 2016 (DNF at 20%) | 1.5 stars (2 on Goodreads)
---I was given a digital copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review---

I was not into this book. I don't really know how I made it to chapter 14 because it frustrated me to no end.

I don't know what I thought when I decided to request this book. I think the summary is quite appealing, but I don't think that came across in the writing. In all of my notes, I don't have much that's a true, positive comment. I have lots of thoughts about where I think it might be heading, but that's really it.

I see that the rating on Goodreads is quite high. I think that this may just be a case of "not for me," but I'm going to explain what I saw wrong with it and what I didn't like.