I'd give this book a R rating.
593193
I usually don't go for the thriller genre but something drew me to this book. The story itself was hard to get in to at first. Once I got going it was better. The author Tony C. Skye really paints a picture in your mind with all the violence. Which is why I cannot emphasize enough that this is not a book for anyone under the age of eighteen. Although I suppose that's what you would expect to find when you are the one to become the Antichrist.  Maybe as the series progresses it will be less violent, which would make me happier.
4206173
It is very rare that I do not finish a book. Even if it is terrible I will speed read through it til the bitter end. This one I could not bring myself to do even that. Horrible to say. My feeling was this.the writer was trying to convince herself that writing a romance is easy, formulaic and a little embarrassing but necessary to prevent themselves from starving. It might have been the character and not the author's point of view, but it convinced me. That coupled with the fact that the male lead character was a little bit too sweet, so-o-o- understanding and basically had more female characteristics than I would like a male hero to have and the female had far too many male characteristics. I am not into alpha male types, but I like my man to be a man.  And she came across as just very butch and hard. Maybe I should have finished the book, maybe something changed but the style of author's writing was dry and lacked emotion for me to form enough of an attachment to the characters to carry on. My apologies to the author, but it sounded like a book written by a man who is posing as a woman because they are convinced that (and this is from the book itself) romance is the only genre that has increased in sales during the recession as the average reader purchases 10 books per month. It just put me off.
4091950
After reading the first chapter I gave up.  The editing needs a lot of work. I understand this is suppose to be for young adults but I feel like they deserve more credit then this.  Seems like something that would be more written by a young adult!  The author puts out new books like every month in quantity and not quality.

Also This Author is NOT a #1 best seller, nor are any of these books written by the author. Look at USA Todays website and a simple search will show that these books are not on the best selling list. I understand you can only expect so much from a free book, but I think the author would do a lot better if he/she did not try to lure folks in with lies such as best sellers lists or "compared to A Song of Ice and Fire, or similar". I give the author credit for writing books, regardless if I like them or not, but I feel the need to call out the lies and false advertisements!
323128
I chose this book based on the rave-reviews it received on Amazon.com.  I couldn't finish the book.  It was difficult to read, difficult to follow and I felt nothing for the main character.  I'm losing faith in Amazon's rating system.  I read this book a few months ago and at that time it had a 5 star rating.  How did that happen?  I'm not surprised to see it's dropped a star.  Needs to lose a couple more in my opinion!
3483994
I tried to like this book, like others have noted in their reviews.  However, I read a lot at my job, and having to actually work at reading this book made me give it up.  I found it difficult to read and boring, and it seemed that a small scenario would be set up, only to turn into nothing after investing plenty of time reading it.  I don't know when the actual point of the book was reached, as I gave up halfway through.  My "for pleasure" reading time was too precious to squander on this book.
3990544
The only reason why I'm giving the book 2 stars instead of one is that the author really worked hard to make the dialogue authentic. Beyond that, there's not much I can recommend here. I decided to read the book because of the overwhelmingly positive feedback. I kept reading it hoping it would live up to all of the praise bestowed on it. It was compared a few times to The Princess Bride. Unfortunately, it was not my cup of Port Royal tea.

Despite the Christian themes the very last 5% of the book, the rest was way too descriptive of attempted rape, child abuse, and domestic violence, far beyond what would have been necessary to convey the same point. Regardless of whether or not it was "historically accurate," the author seemed to spend an inordinate amount time detailing every sordid thought and action of the debauched pirates, to the point where I felt like it was being glorified. For me, it was gratuitous, and eventually, redundant.

From a literary standpoint, the book had a decent storyline, but the same basic plot points were repeated multiple times For example, the author seemed overly fixated on how every pirate wanted to rape the heroine. I got it the first time. The next 12 were unnecessary. There were also large portions of the story where it just didn't go anywhere. Heroine must have repeated 10 times how anyone discovering her secret would ruin her. It was like every significant detail needed to pound the reader over the head. His eyes are blue w gray. Her eyes are turquoise. Every time they kissed, she was flung into the heavens, etc etc. For me, the story read very very secular up until the last few chapters. **SPOILER** Apparently, this author's trademark is to have a climactic ending where the hero/heroine learn the error of their ways/beliefs. For me personally, it came off as rushed and just trying to tie up for a quick happy ending. It almost seemed non sequiter with the rest of the book.

**I have received a TON of flack for posting a critical review of this author by her very ardent admirers. For $1.99, it's tempting to read a book that's so overwhelmingly positive. If pirates and swashbuckling is your thing, then enjoy. However, if you've never read this author, it is NOT The Princess Bride. I really felt like I'd be remiss in not posting my honest opinion given that I wound up reading a book I really wish I hadn't based on all of the gushingly positive reviews.
2727817
This book was just "okay" for me. It is about several survivors of a terrible chemical attack against America by a conglomerate of nations that evidently had a bun on for the US. I will admit to NOT reading the first book, and perhaps it put me at a disadvantage. A well worn plot to be sure. I found myself getting "lost" because the author chose to tell this story from the viewpoint of about fifty people. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but it was about a dozen. I'm betting that his editor made the suggestion to put the protagonist's name at the beginning of each section in order to give readers a "leg up" on trying to keep straight "who's on first" as it were.  Think of how many successful books tell the story from the viewpoint of so many people? Mmmmm...not many. A couple of people said they felt this would be better as a movie, and I agree. The first two thirds of the book plodded. The last third grabbed my attention. I DID have a little trouble with the military accuracy (I am not a veteran but my son is an Iraq War vet, and his original MOS was explosives & demolition). And, as mentioned by others, some portions of the book call for a serious suspension of disbelief. If you are going to read this, I think you would be best served to read the first book in the series. I originally was going to rate this two stars, but gave the author the benefit of the doubt and added a star since I didn't read the first book. I am also going to add that this was a good effort by the author to tackle a large and complex story... it just didn't keep me engaged. YMMV. I'm not sure I'll read additional follow up releases.
4197773
More accurate would be maybe 2.5 stars.  I was disappointed in the book.  It was way too dumbed down.  It was a good idea, it just wasn't written very well -- and I wasn't really all that impressed with the illustrations either.
3787800
Doesn't do the best job of explaining how to use R. I find internet resources much more useful. I wish I hadn't paid for the book.
621954
Personally I was surprised to see the School Library Journal's glowing review of this book (I'm a librarian too). I just don't like this book, which my son received as a gift. There are a lot better truck books out there, and a lot better counting books. It comes down to me the rhyming which just didn't have a good flow. At times I wonder how some children's books make it past the publisher: didn't they have parents live test it / read it aloud first? Doesn't work for me on a language level. I try to avoid reading this book!
2426778
I'm sorry, but it seems like the author would get bored with one plot, and completely leave it behind unresolved.  No thanks.  I finished it, but not without having to force myself to keep going.
528932
Poorly written book. Sounds like drama to me.
1584361
I would not recommend this book. It had potential,  but way too wordy, and disappointing ending. I read the whole thing thinking it would improve but it didn't.
1034976
I agree with Kevin Rohrer. What appears to be a good plot is ruined by very poor writing. It's what you often see when foreign language text is machine translated into english. However, I made it to chapter 4 before I gave up !
2085976
I'm not sure how this book received the high ratings that it did. Let me be clear, I've only given it 3 stars because I managed to finish the book, rather than abandon it 5 pages in. I don't think it's a translation problem, just the style is not something I care for and the main character is portrayed as patronizing and possessing some downright unrealistic qualities. I had nothing else on my reading list, so I carried on, though usually a book this length might take me a day or two and this took almost 10 to finish.

An example of her superiority: "Their pathetic behavior was a signal that they were small, cute and harmless."
Though she's an equal opportunity hater: "Didn't the [boys] find it humiliating that the girls thought they had to pretend so the boys could feel superior?"
"Lumikki considered herself better than average at at spotting liars. Elisa didn't seem like a liar. At least, not a good enough one to be able to fool her." - Really? Do tell - OKAY " Lumikki had been lied to so many times in her life that she could pick out the changes in tone and expression that exposed most mediocre liars." Except that the end of the book reveals that's a lie! I won't spoil it for you, if you make it this far, but her big dark secret is not enough to have created this super character.

Lumikki is portrayed as some sort of teen Sherlock-esque action hero. I like a bit of fantasy in my fiction, but this is too fantastical, even for me. This book calls for a suspension in reality that I just couldn't really get into.
2841050
The story was good and I enjoyed it but I think it should have informed me it was RR rated. I would have given a 5 otherwise.
1881423
Book just ends.  I actually can't believe I finished reading this book.  I am not a prude but I wish I had been able to substitute/replace words in the book.  The F bomb was dropped nearly every page and sometimes it was 10 times in a few paragraphs.  It was used so much that it made me think the author couldn't find other suitable words to move the character's dialogue.  If it hadn't been a freebie and I was pressed for reading material, I would have deleted it without finishing it.  I'll not read more.

The storyline of the book was good.  Nice to have a character so natural as the female.  The rock god wouldn't have interested me if he'd have been in another storyline.