American Sniper : Chris Kyle | Book Review w/ @sslluvsbooks

Rating: 73%

Series: None

Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir, Authobiography, 

Publisher: William Morrow

Publication Date: January 3, 2012

Page Count: 416

Format: Audiobook

Source: Library via Overdrive

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Goodreads Synopsis: From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyle's kills (the previous American record was 109), but it has declined to verify the astonishing total number for this book. Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him al-Shaitan (“the devil”) and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow SEALs, Marines, and U.S. Army soldiers, whom he protected with deadly accuracy from rooftops and stealth positions. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle’s masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time.

A native Texan who learned to shoot on childhood hunting trips with his father, Kyle was a champion saddle-bronc rider prior to joining the Navy. After 9/11, he was thrust onto the front lines of the War on Terror, and soon found his calling as a world-class sniper who performed best under fire. He recorded a personal-record 2,100-yard kill shot outside Baghdad; in Fallujah, Kyle braved heavy fire to rescue a group of Marines trapped on a street; in Ramadi, he stared down insurgents with his pistol in close combat. Kyle talks honestly about the pain of war—of twice being shot and experiencing the tragic deaths of two close friends.

American Sniper also honors Kyles fellow warriors, who raised hell on and off the battlefield. And in moving first-person accounts throughout, Kyles wife, Taya, speaks openly about the strains of war on their marriage and children, as well as on Chris.

Adrenaline-charged and deeply personal, American Sniper is a thrilling eyewitness account of war that only one man could tell. 

Background & Backstory

This will probably sound ridiculous, but I never intended to read this book. If you're subscribed to my YouTube Channel, you may know this, but I recently became re-obsessed with audiobooks. Since August, I've had my visual book I'm reading - either on my Kindle or as a hard copy - and my audiobook simply because I find it a more productive and efficient use of my time as opposed to watching YouTube for hours on end (come on, we're all guilty of this). For the books I assume will take me a long time to read because of density or reluctance, I listen to them, and I've found this works wonders. American Sniper is a book I've been wanting to read since I saw the movie last February but because of its focus on the military, I knew it would take me forever to pick up a physical copy. I put it on hold via overdrive and when it became available, my thinking was, "What the heck? I might as well listen to it."

What Was My Reaction Upon Finishing?

Whoa.

September 4-6 | With that said, American Sniper was everything I expected it to be and I had the same issues with the book as I had with the movie. A problem many reviewers (myself included) have with non fiction is the guilt that comes with any serious critique of the text. Pertaining to a novel, while you are insulting the author's decisions, they still are the AUTHOR'S decisions versus non fiction where you're insulting AN ACTUAL HUMAN BEING'S LIFE AND EXPERIENCE. I deeply admire and respect the sacrifices and choices Chris Kyle made for America, but this review is on how he conveyed his own journey as a sniper.

What I'd like to start off by saying is - Thank God everyone is different and that we have courageous men and women in this world who are willing to defend this country. It's common knowledge with firsthand accounts such as Kyle's, but to be part of the military takes an infinite amount of dedication and commitment. On a much smaller, less significant scale, I have a slight taste with the persistence it takes. I run cross country and there are days when I think to myself, "Who in their right mind would ever want to participate in a sport where the goal is to push your body to the limit and end the day with your tank completely empty?" Enduring is not for the feint of heart and the motivation can't come from someone else yelling at you. Navy SEALS' jobs are unlike anyone else and the training alone is enough to kill 99% of the people on this planet, which is of course, the reason why only the best of the best live to tell the tale.

On the flip side, there is no chance you are catching me any time soon marrying someone in the military. I know I don't have the strength of character to not have my family be my spouse's first priority. It's simply the way I was raised and my personal values. Chris Kyle's marriage and children suffered so much with the amount of dedication he had to the military and his sense of duty was simply extraordinary.

In terms of the way American Sniper was set up, I definitely think Kyle's co-authors could have structured it differently to accommodate for a larger audience of non-military personnel readers. As it was, they did a great job of interspersing other people's perspectives throughout Chris' narration. Nevertheless, as someone who is not familiar with the military, there seemed to be a lot of repetition in terms of Chris Kyle's focus as he regaled the tale of one battle after another. There were a lot of details surrounding what type of gun, situation, and kill it was that meant (on a comprehension level) absolutely nothing to me.

Another issue I hesitate to bring up that I had with Chris Kyle was the way he appeared to so easily fit into the stereotypical redneck mold. The south already gets enough grief with non-country music fans making fun of pick up trucks and beer, but it seemed as if Kyle could have been plucked from one of Luke Bryan's chart topping singles. He had an extreme amount of faith in God and his sense of duty to America was astonishing. It only bothered me because I am unfamiliar with it and I couldn't personally relate.

Conclusion: American Sniper is a fully immersive, uncensored account of Chris Kyle's experience as a Navy SEAL sniper, but more importantly, a dedicated United States citizen.

Confess : @colleenhoover | BookTalk w/ @sslluvsbooks

Rating: 95%

Series: None

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Fiction, 

Publisher: Atria Books

Publication Date: March 10, 2015

Page Count: 306

Format: Paperback

Source: Library

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Goodreads Synopsis: Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

Disclaimer: On Loving the Language of Literacy, the term "BookTalk" means that there will be both a clearly marked spoiler and non-spoiler section of the Review.

Would I Buy It?

75% | Honestly, the only reason I don't own all of Colleen Hoover's books in physical form is because they're classified under "Adult" and therefore are priced accordingly. Translation = they're expensive. Nevertheless if I came across some sort of bargain I wouldn't hesitate for a moment in purchasing all her novels because of how much I love them.

Background & Backstory?

I started making my way through all of Colleen Hoover's novels in January of this year and Confess was the last book I needed to read before being caught up with all of the first novels in her various dualogies and trilogies. 

What Was My Reaction Upon Finishing?

*angels singing* Ahhhh!

There's a lot of stigma and prejudice that comes with the New Adult genre. A lot of times the simple equation is mysterious boy meets mysterious girl, they have an inexplicable attraction, they can't be together, and there's usually some sort of factor like a child, car accident, or weird family connection that complicates everything. However, Colleen Hoover is something special. The stories she crafts tangle themselves up with reader's feels and wrench their hearts in the process, and of course, her male protagonists are super swoon-worthy.

Lately, Colleen Hoover has added some sort of extra multi-media addition to her novels. Slammed has slammed poetry the characters perform. The songs referred to in Maybe Someday are real ones you can find on Spotify, commissioned just for the book. Confess takes it up another level, incorporating real confessions Colleen Hoover was sent by her readers and the book includes full color artwork based off of those confessions. The creativity of her novels is just another aspect to crown her queen of new adult. [Click here if you want to know more about my opinions in pertinence to The Role of "Pictures" in Young Adult Literature]

Even though I say this after finishing every Colleen Hoover novel, I think Confess may be my new favorite. It all boils down to how much you connect with the characters and Auburn's story of first love was one that captured my feelings exactly. The prologue is heartbreaking and the way it follows her to the end of the book is shocking and merely supports the evidence that Owen Gentry is bae.

***Spoiler Alert***

Auburn Reed is an extremely determined, passionate, and committed character. Despite the circumstances revolving around her son's - AJ -birth, it was clear how strong their relationship is and how much she cared about him, the lengths at which she went for him were simply extraordinary. Owen Mason Gentry - OMG for short - appeared as a mysterious NA character and the circumstance for hiring Auburn was absolutely hilarious. His admiration and respect for Auburn wasn't like a lot of characters in literature and it was nice for a change to see a good character.

How Likely Is It That I Will Read Another Book By This Author?

99.9% | I am so freaking psyched for the release of November 9 which ironically is coming out on 10th of November this year.

Conclusion: Confess is another astounding work by Colleen Hoover, a model New Adult novel with incredible relationships and character development with a unique multi-media spin.

{Spoiler Alert} Dead Silence (The Body Finder #4): Kimberly Derting

Rating: 6/10
Series: The Body Finder #4
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Murder Mystery, Young Adult, Fiction
Recommended For Fans of The Dark Divine Trilogy and Pretty Little Liars
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: April 16, 2013
Page Count: 389
Format: eBook
Source: My Local Library

Synopsis: Violet thought she’d made peace with her unique ability to sense the echoes of the dead and the imprints that cling to their killers…that is until she acquired an imprint of her own. Forced to carry a reminder of the horrible events of her kidnapping, Violet is more determined than ever to lead a normal life. However, the people who run the special investigative team Violet works for have no intention of letting her go.

When someone close to Violet becomes a suspect in a horrific murder, she finds herself pulled into a deadly hunt for a madman with an army of devoted followers. Violet has survived dangerous situations before, but she quickly discovers that protecting those closest to her is far more difficult than protecting herself.

***I would normally write a spoiler free and spoiler filled version of this review, but that is nearly impossible since this is the finale of a series, and you would be spoiled about all previous novels in the series. So if you haven't read the book or series, you have been warned that this is just FULL of SPOILERS***

In my experience, after book finales, you are either "WTF" and speechless, or "WTF" and have so much to say you don't even know where to begin. For Dead Silence, its the latter. I've never reviewed another Kimberly Derting book on Loving the Language of Literacy before, but what I will say is that Kimberly Derting taught me that I do enjoy some paranormal romance novels, such as this series. But, with The Body Finder Quartet, I felt like everything good that happened, happened in The Body Finder. I don't know if this is because I expected more with each book, or if my standards became higher. Whatever the reason, I did not enjoy Desires of the Dead as much as The Body Finder and  I did not enjoy The Last Echo as much as Desires of the Dead and I did not enjoy Dead Silence as much as The Last Echo. I know I should have gone back and reread the whole series, but "Aint nobody got time for that." Besides the relationship progression and broad story arc, you can almost read every novel on its own.... so I don't think that was the problem. 

My overall critique is that I expected Derting to want to go out with a bang, which means heart-stopping romance and a breathtaking ride of thrills and chills. I know it will seem like a lot of critique, but what I want you to know is that I enjoyed Dead Silence.... just not as much as I thought I would and that's where most of the criticism comes in.

If you had just given Rafe happiness

Romance: I feel so bad for Rafe. I was totally Team Jay.... when he was the only contender for Violet's heart (Grady just doesn't count). I'm not saying that I'm a total turncoat, but I loved the idea of them in The Last Echo. I just hate that he was there to temper with one of my first OTPs, and that Violet had lingering feelings for him as well. Basically, we know Jaylet (Jay and Violet) is set, but I just wanted happiness for Rafe. It was vaguely hinted that Chelsea had met her match, and they could possibly be "a thing." Yet everyone knew he liked Violet. Somebody just please give that boy a big bowl of happiness soup! 

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Congratulations. Violet had stood there staring at the cake Chelsea had thrust out to her, wondering what she was being congratulated for exactly. Congratulations on being the long survivor of a serial killer? Or just your average, everyday, congratulations-for-killing-a-guy?

My I just say that I freaking LOVE this quote? This phrase is just one of many examples of Kimberly Derting's writing style and her talent for sneaking in humor even when the situation is a very serious one - such as your best friend buying you a "Congratulations" cake and bringing it to you so the two of you can enjoy, on the first occasion seeing each other after you were kidnapped. And just for the record, I still want to know which congratulations Chelsea intended the cake for.

"You were the White River student who found the bodies. And now you're here, watching their funeral." She frowned, confused all over again. Why? Why would you come here?"

This is a kind of ish spoiler (you know how those are), but this quote is said just before Violet finally tells Chelsea about her ability to find dead bodies. Chelsea, knowing Violet was acting weird, followed her to the funeral (I won't spoil who it's for), and is finally getting angry and confronting her best friend. I just think that this quote was plain annoying and Chelsea acted so clueless and flabbergasted when in my humble opinion, I don't think she should have been. Violet has been finding dead bodies for over a DECADE and you're so surprised that she is the unnamed White River student?

Why? Just Why?

WHY HADN'T VIOLET TOLD CHELSEA -HER BEST GIRL FRIEND (I only say that because Jay is her best friend)- ABOUT HER ABILITIES? I just don't understand why Violet hadn't told her or why Chelsea hadn't pursued the subject. I mean they had been friends since they were little girls. Why hadn't one of them felt guilty enough (Violet), or suspicious enough (Chelsea) to ask about the body finding thing? In this book especially, because of what happened with Chelsea's kidnapping and the foreshadowing leading up to it, we get told that Chelsea is an "I don't give a f*** if it's not my problem," no-nonsense person. So why hadn't she gotten it out of Violet sooner? I mean, I know she asked before. But WHHHHY did it take until book FOUR for it to be revealed? #itdoesntmakesense

And suddenly they were no longer standing apart; they were no longer separated by the breadth of their heartbeats. Jay was squeezing her against him, crushing her. Not hugging or stroking her, but crushing her. She felt his fingers clawing at the back of her shirt, balling the thin fabric in his fists as he clutched her to him, and she could feel the days and weeks and months of frustration and dear and whatever else he'd being holding back some pouring out of him as he groaned achingly into her curls....

Okay, so I have issues with this entire quote.... several issues. My first issue was the whole "crushing" ordeal. I GET that they have had their relationship problems -almost all revolving around trust- but the crushing thing is a bit of an overkill. On the other hand, I see how this is an extremely endearing moment for the two of them, and the final *crosses fingers that it's final* makeup between the two of them so that they could end the series on a good note relationship wise.

This is Taylor Swift just telling you to be a couple and stay a couple

This just segways into me being able to talk about some of my other issues with Dead Silence and the series as a whole. In the beginning of the series, Jay plays the role of "possessive boyfriend" and won't let her out of his freaking sight for a moment (it even gets to a point where he wants to stand outside her bathroom door). I remember thinking over a year ago that I like Violet, but I almost wish she would get into danger or get injured because of how often Jay had to save her. Then in Dead Silence, I stop feeling like they're madly in love anymore. This is for many reasons, mostly because Violet is still trying to recover from being kidnapped. She is a damaged person that basically has a serious case of PTSD now. So she withdraws into herself and shuts out the people she loves like her parents, friends, and especially Jay. I JUST DON'T GET IT! See, I even broke grammar rules because of this book. I don't get it why their relationship is so rocky when the events should have made them stronger. I'm just gonna go pout in a corner.... M'kay?

Ending: No! Just no. The ending to Dead Silence needed to be the part where Kimberly Derting dug out the firearms out of her arsenal and floored everyone with the ending. Why didn't that happen?!? WHHHHY?

Conclusion: While I enjoyed Dead Silence as a novel, I was disappointed that this was all that was left as the conclusion to The Body Finder Quartet, and believed that it could have been much better.