Kevin Lau

Phew! Read it with a month to spare before the movie comes out! Ever since they met each other when they were toddlers, timid and worrisome Quentin "Q" Jacobsen has loved Margo Roth Spieglemen, a girl who likes to live life on the edge. Up until a fateful night in their senior year, Q and Margo have only traded few words. On said night, Margo comes into Q's room and ask him for a favor: Be the assistant of the nine things she wants to do tonight to get back at those who wronged her. It's a crazy night, and Q will never forget it. Deep down inside, he hopes this will change their friendship. However, the day after their escapades, Margo disappears without a trace. That is, until Q and his friends realize she left clues behind about her whereabouts. However, the more clues Q puts together, the more he realizes Margo wasn't always the person she lead them all to believe. Being a fan of John Green's other works ( Looking for Alaska , The Fault in our Stars...

If movies like Jurassic Park III  and Batman and Robin  couldn't kill their franchises, nothing can. Set 23 years after the events of Jurassic Park, Jurassic World's business is booming, especially when new attractions are added to the mix. However, to win the money of the investors, the director of Jurassic World challenges the scientists to create a genetically engineered dinosaur, something no one has ever seen before. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned when their experiment manages to run rampant through the park, putting the lives of tourists at risk. Plus, the more time they waste, the more intelligent the creature their hunting becomes. As a fan of both the movie franchise and the first novel by Michael Crichton, I'm sure I wasn't the only one with a sense of obligation to watch this installment to the series. I wouldn't say I was fearful the movie would flop, but I had my worries. Amazingly, though, Jurassic World  breaks the barriers of e...

Well whattaya know? I actually got around to reading a classic. At the Manor Farm, life for the animals is horrible. They are overworked, underfed, and all around mistreated by their human owners. There was talk of a rebellion for years, and, one day, the animals of the farm finally act upon the idea of freedom, scaring away the human owners once and for all, keeping and running the farm for themselves. Lead by the pigs, the smarter species on the farm, the animals create commandments and slogans ("Four legs good, two legs bad!"), everyone willing to follow these ideas to the very end. However, the animal-ruled freedom may not be what they dreamed. In fact, it may just be worse than before their revolution. Even though George Orwell's Animal Farm  was written fifty years ago, it's writing still remains strong and fresh, it's message and characters still ringing clear and relates to our present-day matters. A short read, Orwell manages to craft a full plot ...

Note:  If you have not read the previous books in this series , get off your butt and read them now before you end up finding spoilers below. Wait, am I really only one book away from finishing this amazing series? NOOOOOOOOOOO! Shortly after the events of Mark of Athena , the Argo II crew are in a race against time to stop Gaea, the Earth goddess, from awakening. Now they know the date she plans to rise: August 1, just barely a month away. However, before the demigods can figure out where the giants plan to resurrect Gaea, they must first find the mortal end of the Doors of Death and close it to keep the monsters at bay. Meanwhile, in the depths of Tartarus, Percy and Annabeth struggle to survive. Weak, injured, and starving, their chances of closing the Underworld's end of the Doors of Death are thin. Can the seven demigods of the prophecy still succeed? Told from the perspectives of all seven demigods, Rick Riordan's House of Hades  did something I didn't kno...

Within the far reaches of the internet, in a small portion of it many have called "Amazon", lies a particular book written by a particular person. The book is titled The History of the Universe , and the author of this book is me! The History of the Universe follows the story of a ten-year-old boy named Maximus James. The year is 4343 and mankind have traveled great distances across the stars. So much research, so much history , has been made that gathering all the information would be nearly impossible, so thank goodness author James Newark started writing a book that covers everything mankind has ever achieved in The History of the Universe ! However, The History of the Universe  also has information that the dominant public frown upon: The idea of creationism and of God in general. Nonetheless, homeschooler Maximus James and his parents continue to use it as a textbook and, when something goes awry while they're on vacation, they land on an uncharted planet wit...

I wasn't sure what to expect from this debut novel, but I am pleasantly surprised! It is a hundred years into the future and the leaders of the world are finally bringing peace. There will be no more wars, ever. But how is this possible? Did they ever find what caused war to begin with? Sort of. Samyaza al Assad, the main World Council member, approached the idea and convinced the other members of the Council that it was religion that caused these wars, including World War III. With religion now banned worldwide, with the mere mention of God able to get you arrested, will anyone be able to find the truth behind Samyaza's plan? Justin Price's debut  The Called  explores the dystopian world through four plot lines, transitioning back and forth quickly to maintain a fast pace and a gripping read. However, there are times where this happens so much that the book starts to feel unfocused or confusing, but then gains stability starting around the mid-point. Each plot line...

Warning:  If you have not read the previous books in this series , or the original series this one is following up on, then this review will contain spoilers for you. Also, why haven't  you read these books yet? Taking place right after the events of  The Son of Neptune , The   Mark of Athena continues the journey of the seven demigods, Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Frank, and their quest to stop Gaea from destroying the Earth as they know it. To accomplish this goal, the team must reach the original roots of the gods, Rome and Greece, before the giants lay waste to them. However, Annabeth has a journey ahead that only she can face alone. A journey that, if she succeeds, might be able to join both the Roman and Greek camps and end the war against the giants. Simply put, if there was something or someone you did not like from the previous two books in this series, you will like them now. The pacing of The Mark of Athena  is tight, l...