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106 reviews for:
Vacations from Hell
Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Sarah Mlynowski, Claudia Gray, Maureen Johnson
3.32 AVERAGE
106 reviews for:
Vacations from Hell
Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Sarah Mlynowski, Claudia Gray, Maureen Johnson
3.32 AVERAGE
Since this was a short story book, I'll review each of the stories.
1. "Cruisin'" by Sarah Mlynowski - a fun short read about vampires on cruise ships 3/5
2. "I Don't Like Your Girlfriend" by Claudia Gray - a little all over the place but teen witches so 2/5
3. "The Law Of Suspects" by Maureen Johnson - a little too "strange murder mystery" for me but a pretty original idea 3/5
4. "The Mirror House" by Cassandra Clare - why wasn't she a siren? i don't really know 1/5
5. "Nowhere Is Safe" by Libba Bray - this was everything I hoped for and I want a whole book series for this story! there's so much potential!! a well deserved 5/5
1. "Cruisin'" by Sarah Mlynowski - a fun short read about vampires on cruise ships 3/5
2. "I Don't Like Your Girlfriend" by Claudia Gray - a little all over the place but teen witches so 2/5
3. "The Law Of Suspects" by Maureen Johnson - a little too "strange murder mystery" for me but a pretty original idea 3/5
4. "The Mirror House" by Cassandra Clare - why wasn't she a siren? i don't really know 1/5
5. "Nowhere Is Safe" by Libba Bray - this was everything I hoped for and I want a whole book series for this story! there's so much potential!! a well deserved 5/5
I didn't think I was going to like the first story (with all of the 'first time' business) but kept reading and ended up really liking it at the end. The second and fourth stories were both very fun and interesting. The third story was good but I had a hard time getting past certain things. The last story started out strong but I ended up not really liking it. Overall it was a fun and easy book to read.
my faves:
1. nowhere is safe
2. the law of suspects
3. cruisin'
4. mirror house
5. i don't like your girlfriend
1. nowhere is safe
2. the law of suspects
3. cruisin'
4. mirror house
5. i don't like your girlfriend
All 5 of these stories fit the mood perfectly. All different but centred around the same theme.
Just like 21 Proms and My True Love Gave To Me, this book is a collection of stories from different authors focusing on a specific topic, in this case, vacations.
CRUISIN'
First story in this anthology is Sarah Mylnowski's which I liked, a lot. This came as a surprise seeing as I didn't particularly liked her story on Let It Snow about teacup pigs and selfish heroine. But I digress, the story here is about a girl planning to get her 'first' while on a cruise. Awesome *spoiler alert* is awesome, so 3/5.
I DON'T LIKE YOUR GIRLFRIEND
The second story is written by Claudia Gray, frankly, I never heard of her before but I will certainly read more of her books now. Basically, the plot goes that there is a secret coven of witches and they passed their witchcraft to their daughters and they meet every summer on an oceanfront property. The daughters basically grow together, so rivalries. Anyway, 3/5.
THE LAW OF SUSPECTS
This one is written by the amazing Maureen Johnson and holy freak was it amazing. It's full of psychological mumbo-jumbo and while reading it, all I can think of was, how will this end? Two thumbs-up, 4/5, will read again and again.
THE MIRROR HOUSE
Cassandra Clare's and I'm kind of surprised because I didn't know that she still writes non-shadowhunter-y stories. Although, one might argue that magical realism and semi-incestuous love affair (are those her thing?) is still very prevalent in this story but whatever, at least it's not a trilogy! 3/5
NOWHERE IS SAFE
I haven't read a Libba Bray book but from her stories here and on Geektastic, I'd probably read more of her books now. This story is the longest and (for me) the best. Traditions are simply hard to let go. 4/5 will read again after I recover from all the *spoiler* I generated after reading it once.
CRUISIN'
First story in this anthology is Sarah Mylnowski's which I liked, a lot. This came as a surprise seeing as I didn't particularly liked her story on Let It Snow about teacup pigs and selfish heroine. But I digress, the story here is about a girl planning to get her 'first' while on a cruise. Awesome *spoiler alert* is awesome, so 3/5.
I DON'T LIKE YOUR GIRLFRIEND
The second story is written by Claudia Gray, frankly, I never heard of her before but I will certainly read more of her books now. Basically, the plot goes that there is a secret coven of witches and they passed their witchcraft to their daughters and they meet every summer on an oceanfront property. The daughters basically grow together, so rivalries. Anyway, 3/5.
THE LAW OF SUSPECTS
This one is written by the amazing Maureen Johnson and holy freak was it amazing. It's full of psychological mumbo-jumbo and while reading it, all I can think of was, how will this end? Two thumbs-up, 4/5, will read again and again.
THE MIRROR HOUSE
Cassandra Clare's and I'm kind of surprised because I didn't know that she still writes non-shadowhunter-y stories. Although, one might argue that magical realism and semi-incestuous love affair (are those her thing?) is still very prevalent in this story but whatever, at least it's not a trilogy! 3/5
NOWHERE IS SAFE
I haven't read a Libba Bray book but from her stories here and on Geektastic, I'd probably read more of her books now. This story is the longest and (for me) the best. Traditions are simply hard to let go. 4/5 will read again after I recover from all the *spoiler* I generated after reading it once.
"Cruisin" By Sarah Mlynowski
A well written story with a very surprising twist ending! Not at all what I was expecting, but was definitely a good shock.
4 Stars
"I Don't Like Your Girlfriend" By Claudia Gray
A fantastic story. Incredibly well written, great characters who you love and hate (some both at the same time) and a storyline that kept me gripped from beginning to end. My only problem was the slight predictability in the evil spell used by Kathleen, I saw that coming for a few pages before Cecily did, but the end result was definitely not what I was expecting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed hoping Gray decides to write more stories with these characters.
4.5 Stars
"The Law of Suspects" By Maureen Johnson
A good, well written story that kept me guessing and intrigued all the way through. My only problem was the ending, I'm a sucker for happy endings so the lack of one in this story, plus an irritating sister who did nothing but get on my nerves the entire time as well as a slightly slow beginning are the reasons this story has lost a star.
4 Stars
"The Mirror House" By Cassandra Clare
A great story by a great author. I would live for Clare to write a continuation of this story as I would live to find out what happens next.
4.5 Stars
"Nowhere Is Safe" By Libba Bray
A decent story with a fairly slow beginning that picked up towards the end. This story definitely improved about halfway through and turned into a story that I wouldn't mind reading more of if Bray ever decides to write more with these characters. However, while I was fairly bored at the beginning of the story, I was also thoroughly creeped out the entire time. Bray definitely did a good job in making a story that you don't want to read in your house alone at night.
3.5 Stars
Overall, some very good stories, most of which I would like to read more of. This book gets a well-deserved 4 Stars from me.
A well written story with a very surprising twist ending! Not at all what I was expecting, but was definitely a good shock.
4 Stars
"I Don't Like Your Girlfriend" By Claudia Gray
A fantastic story. Incredibly well written, great characters who you love and hate (some both at the same time) and a storyline that kept me gripped from beginning to end. My only problem was the slight predictability in the evil spell used by Kathleen, I saw that coming for a few pages before Cecily did, but the end result was definitely not what I was expecting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed hoping Gray decides to write more stories with these characters.
4.5 Stars
"The Law of Suspects" By Maureen Johnson
A good, well written story that kept me guessing and intrigued all the way through. My only problem was the ending, I'm a sucker for happy endings so the lack of one in this story, plus an irritating sister who did nothing but get on my nerves the entire time as well as a slightly slow beginning are the reasons this story has lost a star.
4 Stars
"The Mirror House" By Cassandra Clare
A great story by a great author. I would live for Clare to write a continuation of this story as I would live to find out what happens next.
4.5 Stars
"Nowhere Is Safe" By Libba Bray
A decent story with a fairly slow beginning that picked up towards the end. This story definitely improved about halfway through and turned into a story that I wouldn't mind reading more of if Bray ever decides to write more with these characters. However, while I was fairly bored at the beginning of the story, I was also thoroughly creeped out the entire time. Bray definitely did a good job in making a story that you don't want to read in your house alone at night.
3.5 Stars
Overall, some very good stories, most of which I would like to read more of. This book gets a well-deserved 4 Stars from me.
Cheesy as all get out. I love the authors in this collection, but I just can't get into such supernatural silliness.
As a whole, I found these stories easy to read and generally enjoyable. Not terribly exciting, but not bad either.
Cruisin': 2 stars. I found this story totally predictable and not terribly compelling.
I Don't Like Your Girlfriend: 3.5 stars. Much more interesting, and an interesting concept. I do wish we gotten a real answer to the central question the main character was grappling with though- the ending felt a little 'meh'.
The Law of Suspects: 3 stars. This story was interesting, but I'm not at all sure I got the ending. It didn't seem to follow the "rules" of the story.
The Mirror House: 2 stars. Didn't like this one- it wasn't compelling or exciting, and I didn't care about any of the characters.
Nowhere is Safe: 4 stars. My favorite story of the bunch, though the audio transcript of a YouTube video format was a little peculiar, and the characters name didn't make much sense (Not that I don't love Edgar Allan, I do, but why would his parents name him that?). Definitely a compelling and more traditional horror story than any of the others.
Cruisin': 2 stars. I found this story totally predictable and not terribly compelling.
I Don't Like Your Girlfriend: 3.5 stars. Much more interesting, and an interesting concept. I do wish we gotten a real answer to the central question the main character was grappling with though- the ending felt a little 'meh'.
The Law of Suspects: 3 stars. This story was interesting, but I'm not at all sure I got the ending. It didn't seem to follow the "rules" of the story.
The Mirror House: 2 stars. Didn't like this one- it wasn't compelling or exciting, and I didn't care about any of the characters.
Nowhere is Safe: 4 stars. My favorite story of the bunch, though the audio transcript of a YouTube video format was a little peculiar, and the characters name didn't make much sense (Not that I don't love Edgar Allan, I do, but why would his parents name him that?). Definitely a compelling and more traditional horror story than any of the others.
Oh god. Each story was great, and they just got better as I continued reading. Great twists, subtle romance - and pretty horrifying in some cases! The last story was intense and had my heart racing; plus, having been to Eastern Europe myself, it was very easy to imagine the setting. :)