Tuesday 31 December 2013

TheDaisyDeer's Best Books of 2013

Here are my favourite books of 2013.
I've read quite a bit this year, but these are the best in my opinion.

Best Overall Novel read in 2013:
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Laini Taylor

Novel with the Best Story read in 2013:
The Bone Season
Samantha Shannon

Novel with the Best Writing read in 2013:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Neil Gaiman

Novel with the Best Entertainment read in 2013:
Skulduggery Pleasant: Last Stand of Dead Men
Derek Landy

Best New Discovery read in 2013:
How I Live Now
Meg Rosoff

Best Fantasy Novel read in 2013:
Throne of Glass
Sarah J. Maas

Best Supernatural Novel read in 2013:
Anna Dressed in Blood
Kendare Blake

Best Dystopian Novel read in 2013:
Divergent
Veronica Roth

Best Historical Novel read in 2013:
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak

Best Contemporary Novel read in 2013:
The Fault in Our Stars
John Green

Best Romantic Novel read in 2013:
The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes
Cassandra Clare

Best Classic Novel read in 2013:
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Best Mystery/Thriller Novel read in 2013:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Mark Haddon

Best Graphic Novel read in 2013:
Gris Grimly's Frankenstein
Mary Shelley and Gris Grimly


Image Source:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone Cover - http://www.bringthenoiseuk.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Daughter-of-Smoke-and-Bone.jpg
The Bone Season Cover - http://samstillreading.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/080413_0826_theboneseas1.jpg
The Ocean at the End of the Lane Cover - http://thebooksmugglers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/17026_413852478709121_1163712783_n.jpg
Last Stand of Dead Men Cover - http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1386497808l/19284182.jpg
How I Live Now Cover - http://arsenelupinetlesautres.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/how-i-live-now.jpg?w=522&h=803
Throne of Glass Cover - http://abbyjreed.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/400px-throne_of_glass_uk.jpg
Anna Dressed in Blood Cover - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGoSCW5D-xZjVMiA0t_IXuZODID5hCT0NYk9TO9x9p1N0nuyUh7U6W5QfEcQ8s4Ru8zt38zt-YSWuIVW51FwQhexmY8JB-tugyqcsnF28o-y6FDtGjWT4UhbwzNagiPjqSlWXCX1NoZKM/s1600/Anna-Dressed-in-Blood---Kendare-Blake.jpg
Divergent Cover - http://img.deseretnews.com/images/article/contentimagetall/558513/558513.jpg
The Book Thief Cover - http://thebookloversboudoir.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/book-thief.jpg
The Fault in Our Stars Cover - http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8m0la8nyB1rd7oolo1_500.jpg
City of Ashes Cover - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/City_of_Ashes.jpg
The Great Gatsby Cover - http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18j1uwv8xjx9mjpg/k-bigpic.jpg
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Cover - http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511P-vYvcqL.jpg
Gris Grimly's Frankenstein Cover - http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51vU2caYnAL.jpg

Saturday 21 December 2013

The Left Hand of God


Book Title: The Left Hand of God
Author: Paul Hoffman
Series: The Left Hand of God #1
Date Started: December 14th 2013
Date Completed: December 21st 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure
Rating: Two stars
Review:

There isn't a whole lot to say about this book. It's a shame, because I was really looking forward to it, thinking it was going to be another really good fantasy that I wasn't going to be able to put down. Instead, I got a story that didn't make sense; characters that weren't very nice people; and writing that was lacking in details to make me interested in the world and people, and instead overflowing with details about the thoughts of the characters I really didn't care about. Some people might like it, but I'm afraid it just isn't' for me.

Cale has lived in a fortress since before he can remember. But he's been planning since before he can remember too. But the world outside of his prison is more dangerous than he first thought, and holds more dangers than just the horde of evil priests on his tail and the price on his head if everyone else finds out about his abilities

I'm trying not to be too harsh in this review, since the writing isn't technically that bad and I can understand why other people might like to read this book. But, at the same time, I do need to be honest. I skimmed the majority of this book in the end, because I just couldn't bring myself to read the overly long paragraphs about pointless monologues and backstories. I don't think they were necessary and really took away from what the story might have been. This also irritated me, since I felt the book was lacking in description of any kind and the quality dialogue that could have made me enjoy it a little bit more.
Furthermore, the book has a very strange way of telling the story; told from the 3rd person, the narrative switches between points of view, but without warning. This can sometimes make it hard to know whose story you're following and quickly shift from what each character is aware of. This could have been easily solved by just putting a bit of personality differentiation in the text to link to each character.
The main issue, however, was the actually structure of the writing. It was told as if this novel was a sequel; details were just mentioned like the reader should already know what they are, and then elaborated on in a way you just can't understand if you don't click with the basic principle first of all. In addition, the flow of the text was jarring, as I could have sworn there were parts missing. Suddenly a character would appear in a scene or speak spontaneously. It was very confusing, and is probably the main reason I lost patience rather quickly.

I will start with the positives: I liked the darkness and the world-concept. I'm afraid to say, that's about it. I'm always a fan of darkness, and I think the brutality was handled quite well in this book. Furthermore, the idea of the world and it's politics etc was good, although I don't think it was developed enough (huge paragraphs explaining something that I still don't understand unfortunately don't count as world-building).
Right, now the biggest problem I had with this book (and there were more than a couple) was the point of it all. I don't understand what the ultimate objective of the story was. I'm aware that some books don't need an objective to play out and still make a story, however there needs to be something to give reason to the characters being followed through a story. In this novel, I couldn't see one. There were long parts of the book where the characters went somewhere, did nothing then moved on. It was all incredibly pointless. The book could have easily started 250 pages in.
I don't understand why such long time periods were used throughout the story. The whole book must be around three years if you add together all the 'three weeks' here and 'one month' there. It wasn't necessary and then made it harder to understand the relationships of the characters when they saw each other again. Perhaps, if a little more had gone into why it had taken so long, or what the characters had been doing in that time, it would have made sense. Presently, it was, again, pointless.

The characters in this book aren't very nice people. Generally, I like flawed characters, as they are more human and relatable. However, these people seemed to me to be just unpleasant. Furthermore, I couldn't find myself understanding any of the characters and their actions. I felt extremely detached from all of them, so actually, by the time it mattered, I didn't even notice if someone got hurt or in trouble or anything.
Cale, I think, had the potential to be a very good protagonist. Unfortunately, it just didn't turn out that way for me. I expected him to grow as a character and understand ways of life other than his, and for that to somehow impact on his way of life and the way he looked at the world and treated people. It didn't. And I don't quite understand why everyone thinks of him as so amazing and valuable; I didn't see any good demonstration of this.
Kliest and Henri were two of the few characters I actually liked. They were heavily involved at the beginning, and I felt they would have made the story better if their involvement had continued into the later parts of the book they would have made the story more interesting. However, they faded out a little and were early mentioned later on. I thought they were going to be main characters, but then they weren't. Again, it all felt a bit pointless.
I will try and keep this as short as possible, but my rants about Hoffman's portrayals of ALL the female characters could go on for hours. Arbell Materazzi, first of all, is stuck up, useless and rude. And then, later, when she had gone through 'character development,' she was brainless, impractical and devoted only to Cale for no particular reason. Girls have more thoughts than that, thank you. They make their own actions and decisions based on themselves and their responsibilities and intelligence - not purely on how obsessed they are with a self-centred 'hero.'
Idrispukke was a pointless character and I don't know why you would call a character that.

I can't really complain about there being long periods of nothing happening before climaxes, because I didn't really feel like there were climaxes either. I felt most of the book didn't really have a point, so pace doesn't really come into it.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend The Left Hand of God to anyone. It really disappointed me and I found myself more irritated by it for the most part. However, I do understand that some other people might enjoy reading it. The writing isn't too bad, but after having a look at reviews, the second book is supposed to be better. I'm not going to be reading anymore, but if you want to get through this instalment for some possibly better stories, please do.

Image Source: http://31.media.tumblr.com/
9e0f7a4a15dfdb7f297a7ebba276f89a/tumblr_mucoj6a5ab1srzpv9o1_500.jpg

Saturday 14 December 2013

Gris Grimly's Frankenstein


Book Title: Gris Grimly's Frankenstein
Author: Gris Grimly and Mary Shelley
Date Started: December 9th 2013
Date Completed: December 14th 2013
Genres: Horror, Thriller
Rating: Five stars
Review:

Gris Grimly has taken a classic horror and turned it into something hauntingly beautiful and amazing. There's an afterword at the back of this book by Grimly; he talks about how 'Frankenstein fans tend to be dishevelled, crude, rebellious and all while feeling misunderstood.' I think that defines everything I feel about the story and the book. And it definitely makes me a Frankenstein fan.

Frankenstein is a young man, eager to make his impact on the world. But as he studies the sciences further and further, he begins to obsess over his discovery. Eventually, he manages to complete his work. It is only then, however, that he realises how his personality has deteriorated, and he vows to turn his attentions back to his life and family. But it seems his achievement can not be ignored quite so easily, and Frankenstein's creation comes back to haunt him.

I've always found classics hard to get through because the language is so long-winded; the poetic nature usually seems to me to just be there, rather than have an actual purpose to the story. But actually, in Frankenstein I found that the beautiful style of narrative helped me love the story and characters even more. I was also able to read it reasonably easily.
Furthermore, I usually find that classics have a way to make the reader feel disconnected from the characters, and make them seem merely like characters in a book. However, I found that I actually understood these people without having to experience a narrative from them.

Frankenstein is a well-known horror novel, however I can't say that when I started reading this book I was completely aware of the story. It wasn't exactly what I expected; a tale of an ambitious scientist creating a horrific monster whilst losing his mind in the process. In a sense, that is what the story is about, although that's a very shallow synopsis to create. This story holds far more morals and tales of heartbreak and genuine emotions experienced through life than I thought was possible.
I don't think this graphic novel contains the entire of Mary Shelley's story, however the parts it does contain are equally stunning and captivating. I'm excited to go on to read the novel in its entirety now.
The story broke my heart, something I really wasn't expecting. I knew it was sad, but I thought it might be to do with some stupid romance in the background. Instead, I was sobbing in sympathy and pure sadness for a character who truly became whole for me in the words and illustrations provided in the book. My heart really was breaking, but not for the idea that I thought.

Classics have a way of making the reader feel very disconnected from the characters, usually due to the style of narrative. This is why I usually have a lot of trouble reading classics, however this book still allowed me to understand and feel for the people in the story, despite the style of writing.
Frankenstein, despite common misunderstanding, is not the monster itself, but instead its creator. Victor starts as an avid, enthusiastic young man desperate to make his mark on the world, much like any other young man. And he does, as works harder and harder, but things don't turn out the way he wants them to. Such is life, and I found myself feeling more and more for this character as everything started to truly crumble around him because of his actions that had sprung from good intentions. It was terrible to watch something so disastrous to send a man out of his mind - as it was in fact the consequences of his actions, rather than their actual happening, that causes our protagonist to become so terribly lost.
The Monster. I don't like calling it that, because the book tells a different story. But he deserves to be mentioned, as he is so key to the plot, and has his very own story. I'm not even sure what to say, but he was amazing, and I kind of wish he had a name because he should have one.

As well as the wonderful story, this book wouldn't be the same without Grimly's drawings. They're one of the most beautiful gothic illustrations I've ever seen. There's also a steampunk twist to them, and they're very powerful and add to the story so much.
I love the progression of Frankenstein's appearance throughout the book; you kind of forget that actually the time period is years, but the images helped me to remember the continuation. It was really amazing.

I must admit my surprise at loving this book. I mostly read it for the stunning illustrations, but I'm so glad I did read it. It's a beautiful book, both in appearance and the story. I think you probably have to have a certain state of mind to really empathise with the plot, and I consider myself one of those people.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes stories that echo the harsh reality in a heartbreaking way. It's also an amazing horror, but the story really can connect and make the reader think if they're in the right place at the time.

Image Source: https://dcomixologyssl.sslcs.cdngc.net/c/
DIG008165_1.jpg?h=a353ecfe2f603dca7e49c3686965f8ef

Monday 9 December 2013

The Darkest Minds


Book Title: The Darkest Minds
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Series: The Darkest Minds #1
Date Started: December 7th 2013
Date Completed: December 9th 2013
Genres: Dystopian, Thriller, Romance, Fantasy
Rating: Five stars
Review:

I wasn't entirely aware of the hype around this book when I started reading it. I didn't think it was going to be that great, just another teenage romance with some fantasy thrown in to attract a wider audience. And when I started, that is what I got. But then the story went on and I was proven very, very wrong.

Ruby is dangerous. She's one of the children the government want to get rid of so much that they'll kill her. So when her chance comes, Ruby slips away to run straight into a small bunch of runaways. Before she knows it, they're on the run together, their combined threats breathing down their necks. But as the time goes on, Ruby starts to find herself getting to know the people around her, but she has more to hide than they're aware of.

I liked the writing when I got past the initial start of the book where I felt there wasn't anything going on, however I can't say there's anything that particularly stuck out as amazing to me apart from the subtly. Not with emotions as such, but the behaviour and actions of the characters were very calm and slow and that made me grow to love them (for example, it was fairly obvious who Ruby was becoming involved with, but the gradual pace they went at made it all the more sweet when it actually happened). I don't think I've read a book that took its time quite like this, and it was a lovely side-note when the danger and thrills faded away.

I wasn't sure what was going on when I started reading the book. It was slow to start, and I was worried I wasn't going to like it at all: I felt I could tell what was going to happen; it all seemed rather dreary and boring. And then something I didn't predict happened. And then everything picked up so fast I wasn't even aware it was happening.
Suddenly there was danger at every turn, and I wasn't sure when the characters were safe or when they should be on their guard. The plot suddenly became so unpredictable I didn't want to put the book down because every chapter ended on a cliffhanger.
One of the best things about this book for me was the fact that it wasn't always the main character being the hero. It wasn't even always the male lead or the third most important person etc. Everyone seemed to have a point where they saved someone or made a discovery. There aren't many books where the glory is shared so widely over the characters. This not only helped me fall in love with the people in the book more, but also made the plot seem more real.
And then there's the little details that were weaved into everything. The relationships and their effects on the characters; I could see each person developing more and more in my head as I read, and I started to grow with them and understand them more deeply. The intricate little hints about the world and what happened that appear every now and then. All these little things just adding up to make quite a remarkable collection of words.
I was not emotionally ready for the ending. Honestly, I had seen it coming early in the book, but I was pushing it to the back of my mind in a vain attempt to refuse the ultimate climax. Unfortunately, despite my struggles, the ending still happened and it still crushed me. It isn't often that a (slight spoiler!) romance-including storyline almost brings me to tears. But this did. And the worst thing is it isn't even definite - I've got to keep reading all the way to the end of the trilogy for it to be confirmed I bet.

The characters are what made me connect most with the story. I liked the story, and the writing was okay, but it's the characters that made it hard for me to put the book down.
I admit, at the start of the book, I really didn't like Ruby. I found her annoying and childish and I didn't like her dialogue. But she definitely grew on me as she got stronger and cleverer. For some reason, I got the feeling she didn't really care about many other people at the beginning, maybe because she wasn't shown with many other people, but as the story went on and she started to get attached to people, I started to like her more and more, and by the end I'm glad to say I think she's a good protagonist.
Liam was beautiful and I think I might just have fallen in love with him… I'm glad that for once we had an open male interest, it's a change from the macho men and actually I connected a whole lot better with him. He was still able to be protective and strong and clever without constantly bigging himself up. I love Ruby now, but I want Liam, sorry.
Chubs was my favourite character for may reasons. First of all, he's adorable and the most loving of all the characters in my opinion. Secondly, he's the brains and actually turns out to be the hero more than once. I also loved his literary references as they kept popping up, because I could relate to that. I just think he's the loveliest character and was worth a lot more than people regarded him as.
Suzume, for me, didn't stand out too much. I'm trying to think of something to say about her, but not much comes to mind. I think her involvement was definitely key to Ruby becoming a better character and their relationship really was sweet. I'd like to see her when she's had a bit of time to become independent.
Clancey annoyed me and I didn't trust him for one minute. But he was an amazing plot device, because I really caught myself doubting my judgment a couple of times and I did start to trust him.

I had real problems with pacing at the start. For the first 150 pages I didn't really enjoy the book that much because there was nothing happening, we were just being told what was going on. Usually I would be a little nicer about it, but I think the information given to us there could have been gradually introduced as we went through the story, so the first part of the book wasn't really needed in my opinion.
However, once the story picked up, everything started racing past. It wasn't rushed, but it was extremely fast paced with so many twists and turns I honestly didn't know what was going to happen next. I found it very, very hard to put the book down near the end.
As the book finishes, I felt it was on a little bit of a low point, pacing-wise. I understand why this is, but I feel like I'm in a bit of a slump now because of the events of the end and I'm finding it hard to pick up another book, just because my heart wasn't racing right until the end. This isn't necessarily good or bad, I'm just not sure whether it was originally intended to have that effect on the reader.

The Darkest Minds really surprised me; I thought it was going to be another typical Young Adult novel with a romance-led plot with a bit of fantasy and danger in the background. But it turned out to be an amazing story with real threat and thrills at every turn and a really engaging love story and world. I loved it and I think a lot of other people will, so if you like dystopians with some good storyline and characters, pick up this book. You'll love it.

Image Source: http://youthvoices.net/sites/default/files/
image/15025/jun/darkest-minds.jpeg

Friday 6 December 2013

World After


Book Title: World After
Author: Susan Ee
Series: Penryn & the End of Days #2
Date Started: December 2nd 2013
Date Completed: December 5th 2013
Genres: Action, Dystopian, Thriller, Romance, Fantasy
Rating: Four stars
Review:

I struggled giving World After a rating because I enjoyed it far more than the first book, however I still wasn't sure it quite reached five stars. So, I settled on four stars, because it really was very good, however I still think there's more to develop. However, compared to the huge improvement from the first

Raffe thinks she's dead. Her mother thinks she's dead. Her sister thinks she's dead. But Penryn is alive. And ready to fight. The Resistance to the angel invasion is growing larger, and as the world collapses into the new apocalypse, it isn't only the angels that are the only danger to mankind; it seems they threaten their own existence. But Penryn must protect her sister and mother as well as herself, but can she do it when she can't bring herself to look at either for longer than a minute?

The main thing I remember from reading Angelfall was that I felt there was something missing. It wasn't anything specific, but there was a clear feeling for me that the book hadn't gone through enough edits and re-throughs to make it as best as it could be. Having said that, I did really enjoy the story, and I got along with the writing - there was just something missing. I'm very happy to say that that missing element was there in World After. I'm still not even sure what it was, but I this novel felt like a completed piece of work and I loved every minute of it.
Not only does Ee write very detailed action scenes, and some quite touching moments, but she can also create genuinely funny snippets of both dialogue and monologue. There are some books that make me smile when there's a funny part (I'm not even going to mention the books that don't have any affect on me whatsoever), but there are very few books that can make me actually laugh out loud. But World After is one of them. It seems strange that such a dark novel can do that, but it does. And maybe it's because the rest of the story is so tough and gritty that it makes the rest work so well. (Another great aspect of this is that the humour doesn't stand out like something completely wrong in the story; it slides in. You can still tell that it's a tough world Penryn is surviving in, but she is still strong enough to make jokes about it to help her cope.)
I'm not exactly familiar with the behaviour of murderous angels, or apocalypse-survivors, but the actions of the characters in the book are amazingly close to what I'd expect someone in their position to act like. Even when they make wrong choices that play out negatively, I can respond by knowing that the character had understandable reasons for doing such things.

The whole basis for the plot line in the Penryn series is the world building. Location and setting are always incredibly important, as they determine what the character is like when we initially meet them, however in this series, the apocalyptic world is so complex and vital to the story, that it's really what the whole book rests on. This could potentially be extremely risky, as if certain parts weren't explained properly, the whole thing could come tumbling down. But we learn all the details in a gradual, slow way that makes it easy for us to process and still be intwined in the story at the same time.
My favourite thing about these books is how dark and gritty they are. You might call Legend or Divergent dark, since they do have some genuinely troubling elements, and there's a lot of violence and destruction constantly following the characters. But those examples are nothing compared to the devastating world Penryn is living in. I haven't experienced many stories where the author is so open about the violence and terror that happens in their world, and describes it in such a vivid way. I'm not sure this series is something you'd encourage younger people to read.
The story in World After isn't at all predictable, which is always a win for me. I don't like being able to tell what happens next, because then there isn't any point reading the book. If, like this novel, I can't tell what's going to be around the next corner, I need to keep reading to find out, and it has more of an affect on me when it does happen.
I'm not entirely sure if I'm happy with the ending, and it came quite suddenly to me. However, I'm fine with having a cliffhanger, since I know the next book will be explosive to follow the dramatic end.

Ee's characters are the typical sort of ensemble with a dark twist. There's a darker side to all of them, and I'm not talking about long-hidden secrets.
There's only really one character that matters in the series: Penryn. Admittedly, this is because it's told from her perspective, so we see everyone's actions from her point of view. But this tells us more about Penryn than it does about anyone else. She's selfish; in that way that everyone is, and because she needs to survive in a very dangerous world that's not afraid to test her. But at the same time of all of that, she's definitely still a teenage girl, she's flirty, and funny and scared and really cares about her family, despite what her actions show. She's an amazing protagonist and portrays Ee's creation wonderfully.
Raffe is amazing and I still really love him. I was waiting for ages for him to turn up and everything picked up immediately for me when he did. I love his character, and there is a clear line between his archangel-side and then the side that cares about Penryn. I think that side needs to be there to maintain the fact that he is, technically, the bad guy.
I don't think I liked Paige that much to start with, but actually I became more attached to her in this book. Learning more about what had happened to her during her absence from the last book really made me think about how she was coping with everything and actually how amazing she is. I think this happened for Penryn as well, so it was helpful to have her responses registering at similar times to my own.
I will always love Dee and Dum. I really wish they had been in the book more, but their involvement was amazing. They're just those little characters that pop in every now and then that you can count on to be the good guys and make the right decisions and just brighten even the darkest parts of the story. I can't wait to see what they get up to next.

World After has a reasonably long and twisting storyline. But it felt like a second when I was reading it. Short chapters do help this, and the writing style is reasonably simple to get in with, but the fact that so much happens in such a short space of time, it's amazing that the book didn't have me closing it in confusion at points. I understood what was happening throughout and literally couldn't put it down, even right from the beginning.

I recommend World After to fans of hard-core dystopians and unique fantasies. There's also great action, very good writing and a lovely romance. Definitely read the first book first otherwise you won't understand what's going on and everything from the previous book will be spoiled.

Image Source: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51wzAeY4tfL._.jpg

Monday 2 December 2013

Allegiant


Book Title: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth
Series: Divergent #3
Date Started: November 24th 2013
Date Completed: December 2nd 2013
Genres: Dystopian, Action, Romance, Thriller
Rating: Four stars
Review:

I really don't know how to start to talk about Allegiant. When I first started reading it, I struggled a little because I couldn't completely remember everything that happened at the end of Insurgent. And then I started to struggle because Allegiant wasn't quite like the rest of the series. I did enjoy it, and it was a nice ending to the trilogy. But I've come to love Divergent because of its absolute explosiveness (I think that's a word…), and I'm really sad to say I just didn't get that…epic feel to this book.

The video is out. The factions have fallen. Evelyn has taken over. As Tris tries to cope with this new system, it seems that she isn't the only one happy with the five factions being destroyed. The Allegiant want them back too. But there's already been one revolution, another one could lead to war. In an attempt to save the city, Tris, Tobias venture out beyond the fence, and into the unknown. What they find there; something they never could have imagined - and probably would never have wanted to.

The writing is very good. It's well set out and orchestrated so the reader can really picture everything that's going on all the time. The action is amazing and behaviour is also something that's very consistent with these books. The speech is interesting etc.
Something that put me off this time around, however, was the switching perspectives. In the previous episodes of the Divergent series, the whole story is told from Tris' first hand accounts. In Allegiant, however, it alternates between Tris and Tobias. This is all very well and good, until you actually read those chapters. There wasn't anything to distinguish them from one another, apart from the people they were talking to, until halfway through the book where Four started to moan about everything that was wrong in his life (that's all fair enough, but the Four we've grown to know is perfectly capable of at least trying to fix these issues). This lack of difference between the perspectives made it extremely confusing, and I was picturing Tris doing all of Four's story until someone actually called him by name. Another reason I really didn't like this switching perspective was the fact that it gave two dimensions to the story, that weren't actually carried out. The perks of writing in first person is that you don't have to think about what an event might look like to someone else. That's what becomes difficult when you have more than one character narrating - you've got to completely change your mind set in order to fit into your character's. Chances are, the first character is going to think like the author - therefore the second one can't. Every person is different. The problem in Allegiant was that I felt there weren't two characters and two points of view. It just felt like one person living out two separate stories.

I didn't feel like there was a storyline until near the end, where it slipped back into proper Divergent-style action and adventure. At that point, I really started to get into it, and I found it hard to put the book down.
Up until then, however, it was a bit jumbled. The story opens up in a way that makes the reader think it's going to be like Insurgent all over again, but probably with more violence and more likely going to end in everyone dying because they can't decide if they want factions, or a mixed society or something in between. Basically, there's quite a lot of potential there.
But then they decide to go out beyond the fence. Again, there's quite a lot of potential there and pretty much anything could happen. I was expecting them to get to a limit and then not be able to get out, kind of like the Maze Runner. But then they reach a compound, and they get bombarded with this revelation they could never have imagined. Up to that point, the plot is sounding pretty promising, and I was waiting to see what twist was going to burst everything apart. But then we stayed at the compound. And we waited there. And we got given all this information that was really hard to get your head around and remember. And that happened for a long time.
Allegiant felt almost like a narrated companion to the series, explaining in detail what's been going on for the past books and how it's been affecting everything around it and why it's been happening etc. And then we start to learn about these gene differences (I won't go into it, so as not to spoil it) and I realised that the book was almost a whole different genre. Previously, it had been a dystopian action thriller with some romance thrown in. This felt more like a dystopian sci-fi with a lot of plot set around what was actually happening.
When we got to the good action bit again near the end, I felt like we were back in the Divergent world. But I'm not sure what happened to that world along the way.
I'm not going to spoil anyone, but if you think you might be able to pick up some hints, skip this paragraph until you've read the book (unless you've already been spoiled, where you might as well keep reading). The ending (not epilogue) was really good in my opinion. I had finally gotten into the swing of the book, and I was really enjoying myself. I knew someone was going to die, but that was quite obvious. Now. I liked what happened, but I'm not as satisfied with how it happened. Maybe it was the writing, maybe it was the mood I was in when I read it, maybe I just wasn't that attached to the characters, but I didn't feel anything when it happened (and not in the 'I feel empty' Fault-In-Our-Stars way). I kept expecting something to happen to make it more heart-renching. But then nothing happened.
Finally, the epilogue tied everything up for me. There's always a worry at the end of a series, that there'll be loads of loose ends and unanswered questions. But I'm content with how everything worked out, and I actually enjoyed the 'twenty-five' or whatever it was 'years later' bit. I usually find these a little cliche and boring, but I thought it ended nicely.

I already loved a lot of these characters, but it was hard to keep up with all the new ones being added a lot of the time. I forgot who some of the people were as I was reading, which mades things quite confusing when there were bad guys and good guys.
Tris is a very good protagonist, and different from a lot of others out there. However, she annoyed me a little in this book. I understand a large and important part of her character is that she is selfish - fair enough. However, I only take that so far before saying that actually she's just being a mean person. And she turns into a mean person at some points here. I'm not complaining; this really showed how everything was affecting them and it was done very well, but I did sometimes catch myself thinking that actually she isn't always right, as she thinks she is. And other people are allowed to make mistakes without getting shouted at by her all the time. On the other hand, she was definitely a hero, and it's nice to see women proving themselves all the time as both strong, intelligent and courageous without being told they should be.
Four, in my opinion, wasn't Four from the other two books. I don't know what happened, but he's just not the same. I've have a couple of ideas why: number one, Theo James. There's been a lot of talk about James being cast as Tobias and some discussion about whether he's right. Personally, he isn't the Tobias I pictured at all, but I'm sure he'll be a perfectly good film-Four. However it really pissed me off that I started picturing Theo James instead of my Four in Allegiant. Or, theory number two, it's because of the P.O.V. Allegiant is the first book in the series where the story is told from both Tris and Four's perspective. I did not like this, as I've already said. There wasn't enough differentiation of writing styles between the two characters, and so it became very hard to tell them apart - and this therefore took away from both of their characters. Four didn't have the same personality for the mere fact that I don't think Roth was ready to write in his character; she's Tris. And she can write Tris amazingly. I'm just not so sure about Tobias.
Christina is amazing. I've always loved her, and I was a bit sad her friendships broke down a little in this book. But then her involvement at the end made me smile. (I know it's cryptic - you'll just have to read the book and then find out what I mean!)
I've always loved Uriah. Along with Christina, they're the ray of sunshines in the stories. I love any chapters Uriah's in, because they're just entertaining. And I think his main plot line was a little unnecessary. (It had purpose at the beginning, but at the end I couldn't really see the point of it.)
Caleb is my favourite character. I don't care if he's a so-called 'traitor'. Because, honestly, it never really came across that way to me. He's probably one of the most believable characters in the book to me, and I think he's a great example of development and independent thought. I was really disappointed how he was ignored for most of the book because of things he had done (that, if I'm honest, I can't completely remember).
Peter. I felt like he was there, so Roth had to do something with him, but then she got bored, so just threw him away pretty quickly. Yeah, I'm disappointed about Peter.

I said in the introduction that Allegiant didn't have the epicness of the previous books. Part of this is in the pace, which is something that seems a lot of authors struggle with - and fair enough.
The thing with this novel is that it feels like the whole point of it is to explain what's been happening the in the past two books on a different level to what we might have previously have thought of. I get that, but at the same time, there does need to be a story in itself going on at the same time. I didn't feel like there really was a plot line until around three quarters of the way through, when it started being apparent that there was actually a problem and a threat imminent of things carried on the way there were going. I completely understand Roth's intention of finally revealing her genius of the past books, but it just made the story…bland for the majority of the book.
Divergent had things happening every third second, and you honestly could not put the book down because whenever you tried to stop another crazy thing happened and you'd have to find out how the characters would get out of it. Insurgent was slightly calmer, with crazy things happening every thirty seconds or so. But they were still there. Allegiant had things every minute. It just wasn't really what I was expecting, and a little disappointing for action-junkeees like me.

I honestly did enjoy Allegiant, I just found it very different from the rest of the series, and I feel I have to point that out.
I would recommend the Divergent trilogy to any dystopian-lovers out there. It's also got great action and a good romance. Allegiant is the weakest book in the series in my opinion, but it does start to explain things for those people who like to understand everything perfectly. And it all gets wrapped up nicely at the end.

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Sunday 24 November 2013

Champion


Book Title: Champion
Author: Marie Lu
Series: Legend #3
Date Started: November 19th 2013
Date Completed: November 24th 2013
Genres: Dystopian, Action, Romance, Thriller
Rating: Five stars
Review:

Champion is the much-anticipated last book in the Legend trilogy. I read the first book a few years ago and immediately fell in love. I've been keeping track of everything that's been going on with the series since, and I'm distraught that it's over. However, Champion was an amazing end to the trilogy and I won't walk away with loose ends to tie up.

It's been months since Day and June last talked. They've both got their own jobs to distract them, keeping them busy with transforming the Republic into a better place. But with an outbreak of plague in the Colonies, it seems their peace is soon to be shattered by threats from their enemies of invasion. The only hope, it seems, is Day's brother, but Day would rather die than see his brother being experimented on again. As the Republic is attacked and the Patriots reemerge to help, it seems Day's options to keep his brother safe are narrowing - and he has to make sure June gets out of it all alive too.

I don't know where to start with the writing style. I think I forgot just how much I loved this series until I read it again. First of all because of the writing. It's so good for a Young Adult novel: I'm always waiting for what will happen next (I literally couldn't put the book down at around 290 onwards) and I believe every word that comes out of each character's mouth as if they were real people. Lu also has this amazing talent of being realistic in everything she does. The behaviour of each character is consistent, yet still surprising when it should be.
Furthermore, the writing style itself is just flawless. Especially the action. I see physical combat being used more and more these days in dystopians, as well as other genres - but few people manage to describe the movement in a way that allows the reader to follow a picture it, whilst also making them race ahead through the action as if they themselves were caught up in the adrenaline.

The story. I think Prodigy might just beat it by a hair's length for plot, but it's extremely close. The thing was, at this point in the series, I was already so emotionally invested with the characters when I started reading, that there was no need for reintroducing me to the world and everything that was going on. And I don't think that did happen, which meant that we were immersed in everything going on straight away. The slight drawback of that, I think, is that the story became more about how the characters were dealing with things, rather than the actual plot. Having said that, it's not necessarily a bad thing. A huge part of the series are the characters, and so the more we care about them, the better the book is going to be.
The tension built up towards the end was phenomenal. There was always a hovering little threat at the back of my mind as I was reading, about how, along with everything that was going on anyway, that their whole country was about to be plunged into the middle of a war. But then when the fighting actually arrived, I realised how unreal it had seemed to me. That was a feeling I've only really experienced in history lessons (that part where you've heard about all the people who died and seen the statistics - but actually they're just numbers in your head until you see the devastation in film or pictures). I'm not sure an author has ever recreated that moment of surprise in words before - or at least not in a book I've read so far.
Finally, the very end. I did see it coming, but it still made me stop for a moment when it really was revealed. I like that sort of bittersweet ending; the possibility but nothing said to imply it ever happened. And then there was the epilogue. I'm a little bit indifferent to those fifteen or so pages. It wasn't bad, but I felt it might have lost out a little on a proper heart-tearing ending. Then again, it does only supply a possibility, and no guarantee. (Sorry if this makes no sense, you'll have to read the book I'm afraid - no spoilers!)

I've grown very attached to these characters, and right when I went into this book, I was already feeling for them as events happened. I've been close to characters in books before, but it's impressive to have me this worked up for them in only three books.
Day is an amazing protagonist. I remember preferring June in the early books, but actually Day has come a lot further personality-wise. He's also had to go through a lot worse, in my opinion, though I'm not denying June's had it hard too. But Day retaliates with this fearless recklessness which is common in a lot of books these days. But he has another element about him that I'm still not sure of. It's not vulnerability, it's more the openness that he isn't invincible, despite what other people think. And, in a way, that's what makes him a much more relatable character to me; because he's honest that he isn't a superhero.
I do love June though. I love all of the characters, but she's one awesome girl. I usually moan about the actions of female protagonists being forced because they feel they have to be a certain way or they have to prove they're just as kick-ass as the boys. But June has this effortless skill about her which makes it so that she doesn't feel like she constantly has to prove herself as able; it's more about age than gender. That's a part I'm real happy is included, because it's still prejudice, but it's a breath of fresh air for once. That and June is just a pretty awesome person anyway.
Tess is definitely my favourite character, and I think she has come the furthest since the very first book. I've loved watching her change and develop and grow into an amazing person. I always felt a little sorry for Tess, because it was like she was always being put behind other people, but I actually realised in this book that she wasn't being put behind other people, they just trusted her to trust herself and work things out independently. That might sound like the same thing, but having gone through a similar process, I can see how it's different. I can really connect with that girl and I adored her relationships that built up with everyone around her.
Eden is adorable and you can tell he's grown up a lot through the books. He's probably the bravest of all the characters, and the most 'pure'. I think up until this point, you think of him as more of a plot-device rather than his own person. Which of course is dramatically turned on it head by Lu in the final book.
Pascao is lovely, but I wish some of the other Patriots had been featured more. And I swear there was something going on between him and Tess. If only the author would reveal if I'm making it up in my head or not.
Anden was, again, great. It really was hard for me to chose between him and Day, so I can't imagine what June was dealing with. However, I do feel he almost disappeared after a bit, and faded into the background. To be honest, that did reflect how June was dealing with everything, so it worked well for getting her feelings across, although I did miss the Elector.
I've always had a little soft spot for Thomas, despite his actions, and I was quite sad that his part was cut short so abruptly. I would've liked a little more about that from June's monologue, but it's only a minor thing.

I've always loved Lu's novels for the way she sets them out. Alternating chapters between June and Day's perspective makes sure that the reader never gets bored, and gets intertwining stories that are actually of their own unique nature at the same time. You could read just Day's chapters, or just June's and get the main parts of the story. Yet by switching between the two, you get loads of depth from two different sides of the fight. It's in this way that Lu has no problem with pacing. Although I did favour Day's chapters more, I loved June's too  since there was always something going on in either, and always necessary for the story.

Wow, long review. Anyway.
I recommend Champion to fans of dystopians and action stories. There's amazing development throughout this whole story that really builds up a relationship between the characters and the reader and the plot line is just amazing. The writing is advanced for a young adult novel and it will be on my favourites shelf for quite a while.

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2013/11/champion.jpg?w=645&h=976

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Here's Looking at You


Book Title: Here's Looking at You
Author: Mhairi McFarlene
Date Started: November 11th 2013
Date Completed: November 19th 2013
Genres: Romance, Comedy
Rating: Three stars
Review:

Here's Looking at You actually really surprised me. I got what I was expecting: a romantic adult chick-flick, however there was an extra bonus of some genuinely funny humour and a reasonably good storyline thrown in. I haven't had much experience with the genre, so I'm not too sure how original it is, but I definitely enjoyed it enough to finish it, and it was a nice change from my usual genre.

Anna had a hard time in school, like most of us do. Bullied for her talents, mocked for her looks and humiliated on a grand scale. But that was years ago. Now she’s got a job she loves and friends who don’t care about her unpleasant past. Even the weirdos who turn up to her blind dates aren’t fazing her. That is, until her friends force her to go to a school reunion and meet the tormentors of her childhood. But when no one recognises her, it’s time to try and start again. But is the secret of her identity really as well hidden as she hopes?

I can tell why McFarlene was so successful with her first novel. If it was anything like this, I can see how it appeals to so many people. She has quite a unique writing style: quirky and cheeky but also quite heartfelt. (I admit, sometimes a little too emotional, but I guess it’s quite hard to write a chick flick and hold in the cheese all of the time.)
It was also genuinely funny. I don’t usually find myself laughing out loud about a book, but actually some of the lines in here were quite witty, and I managed to understand quite a lot of the references, despite being younger than the target audience.
I’m not in love with the book’s style, but only because it isn’t the kind of book I love. It’s strange, but in a nice way. It was weird reading something that didn’t have my heart racing every other page (I’m afraid I don’t get that into lost love), but nonetheless, it was refreshing to read something a little different, with a writing style that is understandable relatable and worth reading.

The story didn’t amaze me as being completely different from anything I could have predicted. Of course, you can guess the ending before you even pick up the book, but it’s always the build-up that’s more exciting and engaging. (‘The thrill is in the chase, never in the capture.’)
I have to say, for the most part, I felt like there were lots of little necessary things that didn’t really need to be included because they distracted from the main plot, and just didn’t interest me. Other people might not be too bothered, but I just thought they weren’t really needed in order to get the story moving.
However, the story was cleverly choreographed to have several different stories going on at the same time as the main romance. For example, I loved Anna’s sister’s engagement and the drama surrounding those chapters, along with James’ divorce with his wife. It was all very real, but found ways to make the serious lighter and more funny.
The biggest issue I had with this book was the unrealistic extent of horrible things said and done to Anna. Especially (spoiler!) when her secret is revealed. I honestly can’t see someone reacting the way James did, and alongside making me extremely angry, I was also quite disappointed that a book that had previously been reasonably good at being believable failed at a climax in the story. This was rather quickly resolved, but I do feel that the character’s behavior at that time in the story is a weak point for the book.
(Spoiler ahead! Although, not really, because it’s kind of predictable.) Yeah, it was a cliche ending, but what was I expecting? At least I actually felt kind of happy for the couple and it was quite sweet.

The characters were all as funny and unique as the book’s style, and I could definitely see some of the author’s personality coming through in their actions and emotions.
Anna was quite fun to follow. Although she ends up only having about half of the chapters in the book, she is clearly the main character, and the person the reader feels closest to whilst reading the book. I think she’s a very relatable character, and has that headstrong ability that makes pretty much any situation either go her way or crumble down around her. She’s cheeky and funny and actually quite a nice person, so I was happy to listen to her story.
James annoyed me through pretty much the entire book. He had a very simplistic thinking pattern compared to the clearly intellectual Anna, and that stuck me as strange for such a book. I felt like a lot of the time he was being selfish, and although I understand his feelings towards his wife, I can’y help thinking that he does make himself suffer more through his actions. To be honest, in the end, I didn’t mind his happy ending, but I was more happy for his new partner than I was for him.
I started off liking Laurence, and then hating him. I think this is what was intended, although the swift change in personalities - from a reasonably laddish, but friendly boy to a snappy player - around half-way through caught me off guard a little.
Anna’s friends always had the funniest parts of the plot covered, and I especially loved Michelle.
Finally though, my favourite characters have to be Anna’s family. You can tell there’s lot of tension between them and more than enough reason for them not to get on, but they have this reinforced kind of bond that makes them stick up each other and accept them. I really liked the way that was portrayed, and I looked forward to the parts where Anna was with her sister and mother, since those were the best parts in my opinion: they had humour, drama, emotion and the most interesting conversations of the whole novel.

I have to admit, the pace did give me some issues. I hate to say it, but I did skim-read a lot of this book, merely because I got bored of certain chapters and wanted to get onto something that caught my attention. It was merely that the book is filled mostly with downplay to build up the character’s relationships and let the reader get to know them more. Unfortunately, I found it hard to stay interested in this, so I quickly read to the dramatic parts.
I don’t actually think this is a flaw so much with the writing, more that I’m used to much faster-paced stories and this just wasn’t getting my heart racing.

Despite my rather neutral star-rating of Here’s Looking at You, I do think it’s a good book and great for a nice light summer read. It’s funny and quirky and very sweet at times. I think you need to really like the genre to be able to stay fully focused throughout reading it, however if you have no qualms about taking your time, McFarlene’s novel is probably perfect for you.
I’d advise an older audience, just because there’s quite a lot of humorous references to things I don’t think many young people are aware of and this, obviously, lowers the enjoyment for the reader if they don’t always understand what the writer’s trying to get across.

Thank you to HarperFiction for supplying me with this advance copy for review.

Image Source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AwxzHj7b9y4/UmAN_imaM7I/
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Sunday 10 November 2013

A Hero for WondLa



Book Title: A Hero for WondLa
Author: Tony DiTerlizzi
Series: WondLa #2
Date Started: November 4th 2013
Date Completed: November 10th 2013
Genres: Adventure, Dystopian, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Rating: Four stars
Review:


The Search for WondLa, a book I read around four years ago, was one of my favourite ever children's books. I admit, I was quite disappointed by its sequel, however - as children's books go - it's an amazing addition to the fantasy range for younger readers.

A Hero for Wondla takes place directly after the prequel, where the first human Eva has ever seen has come to take her home to the human city. But as Eva arrives at the place she's dreamed of all her life, it seems that the utopia isn't as perfect as its leader insists. And then Eva's long-lost sister appears from inside the conspiracy, and everything Eva's ever wanted starts to crumble down.

I loved DiTerlizzi's writing, and it would be a crime not to mention his absolutely breathtaking artwork (it's as much a part of the story as the words are). He's something very different, and writes in a way that's clearly targeted at younger ages, but could just as easily be experienced by older readers.
The biggest problem I had with this book was that the language seemed too complex for the simplistic nature of the plot and characters - I particularly noticed how the dialogue stuck out as very different from the narrative. I felt a little like DiTerlizzi was caught between wanting to write the book for Young Adult or for children.
On the other hand, it was written well, and the story progressed well and beautifully through the text.

I can think of so many books that have a certain scene similar to the ones in this book, yet there's so many that I can't help but feel DiTerlizzi has patched together used ideas so masterfully that he's created an entirely new plot line all by himself.
Although the actual story is a very good asset, the world DiTerlizzi has created has to be where the strength for the whole series lies. It's common for author to design new creatures for their stories to make them more new - especially in fantasies and science fiction - but this is really a new level. The aliens are unlike anything I've ever read before, and you can even see them in the illustrations. Although I don't like being told what the think of in my mind when I'm reading a book, a little helping hand like this is perfect to making the story come alive.
Another thing that's great about the story is the dystopian solution. First of all, the origins for its creation are unique, but the fact that the humans and aliens are all striving to make the world secure and safe (as opposed to take it over etc) is a real breath of fresh air, and somehow more believable. Humans are really messed things up, and they want to set it right - they just aren't going about it the right way. It's really interesting to see how events between the humans and aliens play out, since they both want the same thing essentially: to live in a safe world in peace.

The characters in the book are fairly simplistic in nature, however do have strict morals that come forward in their actions, and also in what they say as the story progresses. I think this is a very important thing to have for a younger age group, and also allows you to understand the characters faster.
Eva Nine is a good protagonist, if a little irritating at the start. She's incredibly naive for a thirteen-year-old girl that's been through everything she's been through - yet that doesn't stop her from behaving in the right way for the right reasons. I do think there's a little bit of confusion around her behavioural-age and then her mental-age, as they seem to conflict quite a lot in the book. However, she still achieves her purpose of standing up for mankind and being the vessel to hold nature and humans from destroying each other.
Rovender didn't have as much of a personality as I remembered him having, although I still love his relationship with Eva. You can tell he genuinely cares about her, and in a way that should be introduced as early as possible: the family bond without blood-ties.
Eva Eight was an interesting concept to have, and I loved her development throughout the story. I think she reacted to the events of the story most realistically, and she portrayed how humankind can corrupt and break people in order to get to their goal. I loved how her story finished and I'm really glad there's an author out there that can construct such clever endings.
I really liked Hailey. He's a bit of an idiot, yet that made him more realistic. There's definitely more to come from him, and I can't wait to read it.

The pace did have it's issues for me: it was a mixture of being too slow, yet far too fast to learn about a certain place before the story moved on. I found myself becoming bored at times, because the story wasn't moving on fast enough for me to stay interested. On the other hand, the location seemed to drastically change every three or four chapters, making it harder to get into the story.
I admit, these features are to fit the younger audience and stay with the adventure genre of the book - I just found it a little irritating that I wasn't able to really immerse myself in the story.

I think DiTerlizzi's series is a wonderful new addition to the world of children's fantasy books, and I think it should become a well-known story. I would definitely recommend A Hero for WondLa for anyone of the younger audience who enjoys dystopian adventures.

Image Source: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-content/uploads/
2012/05/hero-for-wondla.jpg

Sunday 3 November 2013

The Bone Season



Book Title: The Bone Season
Author: Samantha Shannon
Series: The Bone Season #1
Date Started: November 1st 2013
Date Completed: November 3rd 2013
Genres: Mystery, Fantasy, Romance, Action, Dystopian
Rating: Five stars
Review:

This book does have it's faults, I'm not going to lie, and I'm trying to be critical in this review, but to be perfectly honest, the pros outweigh the cons in my opinion. I'd heard a lot of hype around The Bone Season, and it's supposedly the most anticipated novel of 2013. When a book has loads of hype around it, I'm very wary of how good the book actually is, since opinions can be blown out of proportion quite easily. But actually, I think I agree with all the people saying this book is amazing, because I really enjoyed it, despite the fact that some parts were a little heavy.


Paige Mahoney is a dreamwalker: one of the rarest types of voyant, and as a result, she's constantly being hunted. With all voyancy outlawed, she's forced into the criminal underworld to work for a mime-lord - the dealers of this world's illegal activities. Activities that involve Paige and her friends' gifts. But one wrong step can mean the difference between freedom and captivity, and as Paige stumbles over the line, she's forced into a much more dangerous version of reality that she was aware existed. Now, she's under the guard of a intimidating keeper and in danger of being murdered for her gift by the powerful leader of a ambitious new species.

I've read quite a lot about Shannon, and I'm therefore even more impressed by her writing: her prodigious reputation was proved right here. She has a mature writing style, and for a story like this - that could so easily have become a rather typical Young Adult novel - it's hard to keep that up for a whole story.
However, the beginning of the book was too full of information. Shannon has such an amazing imagination, and the world is definitely one of the strong points of the novel, but because of this detailed construction around the setting, it means it takes longer for the reader to understand the world. Shannon tries to speed this up, by piling historical data and explanations of voyancy heavily in the first couple of chapters. It's just a little too much to take in, when we're still getting to know the character. We want to be pulled into the story; not bombarded with too much information to handle. This does improve further into the book, but unfortunately it was only in the last hundred or so pages that I was able to read each sentence and be able to connect more than a third of the words to the slang and background information of the book.
Despite this, all the did flow well together, and I was able to lose myself in the words for pages, without glancing down at the page number (a bit of a bad habit I've picked up).
Moving on, the narrative was well written, and there was some personality shining through, though there could have been slightly more. The action was written very well, and the description and dialogue were also good and believable.

Although confusing, the story is very amazing, and looking back on it, I can see how little things connect subtly, but very well.
Like I've already mentioned, there are issues with supplying relevant information at the beginning, however the story does still pick up quite quickly, and we snippets of action between learning about the world.
The main plot was well thought-through and flowed perfectly. I didn't see everything coming, and I definitely felt some frustration with Paige for the things that happened to her - as well as being able to step back and think about why these things might have happened and what significance they might have for the whole plot. There isn't a lot I can say without giving anything away - only that it was very well planned and you need to read it yourself to fully understand how well everything works.
I have to mention the final scene, because it was epic. It isn't a lot I'm able to use that word to describe an ending scene. It's hard to find really good quality conclusions in books these days, but The Bone Season hit the nail on the head. It was long enough to make me keep stopping and starting when moments of calm were violently broken, but also quick enough to not let the reader get bored. There was also a really good build-up, which was probably my favourite part in the book, because I didn't see just how fast things were going to crumble until it was happening.
See, I like unhappy endings in books. I don't, however, like cliffhangers. Cliffhangers make me want more. And I definitely want more. There's so many things left unexplained, and so many little parts of the story that are still to be revisited. For once, I get the feeling that they are going to be revealed and will have something to do with the future books, which is a little bit of a relief. On the other hand, I do now have to wait for the next book, so...

The development of the characters in this book was just amazing. The people you meet at the very beginning are pretty much completely different from the ones you're left with at the end. And people fade in and out of the spotlight, just like in real life - some characters are meant to have tight friendships with Paige, some aren't, as so we see them once and, although they aren't forgotten, they're no longer that important to the story.
Paige was a wonderful protagonist. At first I thought she was going to be another sarcastic, fiery hero. But she turned out to have her own personality that I could believe and understand and feel for. I think the thing that really made Paige stand out was the fact that she didn't really have any connections with anyone, and she wasn't looking for any: avoided them even. Her resistance to everyone stayed up for a very long time, which is what eventually won me over as thinking of her as a real person.
I genuinely didn't like Warden at the beginning, but I grew to like him with Paige. In fact, I think he's the first male interest in a book that I've liked in a while (as in liking him personally, rather than feeling he's good for the girl or whatever). He was very realistic, and my heart broke a couple of times for him. If he isn't in the other books I'll cry.
Nashira felt like a threat to me, and I was scared about Paige when Nashira threatened her. I didn't doubt she would hurt her, and because of that I therefore felt more strongly about the characters and what needed to happen in the story. She was also a good villain, because you could sometimes see where she wasn't so completely evil - maybe just a little bit deranged.
Nick was a lovely character that I loved straight from the off. When I started to learn more and more about his relationship towards Paige, and I liked him more and more. It was realistic, it was painful and it fitted with the story great. I have a feeling it's going to be developed a lot more in the next book, and I can't wait.
Jaxon and the Seven Seals was a really good thing to have in there, because it gave Paige a proper incentive to escape, and also a really interesting backstory. You could almost write a whole new book just about Paige's journey before The Bone Season. Some of this is shown in flashbacks, but I'm really interested to learn even more about Paige's 'partners in crime'.
Michael, Seb, Julian, Liss and David are all characters I want to mention because I loved them and I think they added to the story. These are the characters that I mentioned 'fade in and out of the spotlight'. At a certain point, they have important - if not vital - impacts on the storyline, and I grew to like all of the them (especially Michael, Seb and Julian). But then they did fade away a little bit. I'm tempted to say I wish I'd seen more of them, but actually I think their parts worked so well exactly as they are, that I won't.

The Bone Season is very fast-paced. The information dumping at the beginning could be boring, but luckily it was broken up by bits of the story, and did eventually stop. Each part of the story was interesting, even the flashbacks. For me, it didn't really have any pacing issues; it even ended at the right point, I think. Just before it got a little too boring for the reader, and leaving enough enthusiasm to have us waiting in agony for the sequel.

I loved The Bone Season. As I was reading it, I kept thinking it had the fantasy and idea of Sarah J. Maas' 'Thorne of Glass'; as well as the dystopian, dark world of Veronica Roth's 'Divergent' (both of which are in my top favourites). Consequently, it has amazing concepts, and the story is vivid and beautiful and new.
I'd recommend it to anyone, especially if you want something a little bit different with a mature writing style and characters and a story you can fall in love with (if you have the patience to get through all the information at the beginning, mind).

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Thursday 31 October 2013

Poison Study



Book Title: Poison Study
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Series: Study #1
Date Started: October 29th 2013
Date Completed: October 31st 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Mystery, Action
Rating: Three stars
Review:


I was expecting something I didn't really get with this book. I didn't know a whole lot about it to start with, but I had some kind of vague expectation in my head. Unfortunately, I don't think it got there for me. I don't want to give the wrong impression, because I did enjoy reading this book, I just ended up a little dissatisfied by the end.

Yelena is sentenced to death for murdering her adoptive carer's son. Nobody believes her accusations of both of their abuse, but nevertheless, she's offered a chance: become the Commander's food taster - running the risk of being poisoned every day - or face the noose. For Yelena, it's a no-brainer, but then when attempts on her life start erupting everywhere, she starts to doubt if she made the right decision. And it isn't only her that's in danger - the whole kingdom may be under threat from within its own government.

The writing was good. At the beginning, I found it really engaging and I was immediately hooked. But once it reached a certain level, the quality just kind of stopped; it didn't keep improving as it went through, and therefore made it a little slower at some points in the book.
However, I really liked the mix of description and dialogue; there was a lot more variety in this book than I see in a lot of Young Adult novels these days, which was a nice change. The action was well written, although sometimes I felt it was rushed, so I wasn't able to picture it completely.
I think the biggest problem with this book for me was the behaviour of the characters. I understand that there's development that happens, and therefore there are some extremes of personality at some points in the book, but every now and then a person would do something completely out of character. I'm always really hard on books with how believable they are, and for me, each character just changed so much so quickly, I found it quite hard to keep a grip on what each person was supposed to be like and how we should feel for them. I don't know if that was possibly because the time went a lot quicker here than in most books - whatever the reason, I just found that quite distracting and unfortunately pulled down my expectations of the book.

The story was also good. I can't really elaborate more. It all felt a bit jumbled and unorganised to me; there was a storyline, but there were so many other little things thrown in that didn't really need to be there that confused me to the point where I just went along with the plot, rather than trying to figure things out for myself.
The background story is great; the idea of someone being trapped in a castle and growing to love the people holding her there is quite common, but I've never read the 'food-taster' explanation. I really enjoyed the little bit of information about Yelena learning to test for poisons - it was actually very fascinating, surprisingly. The experiences she had previously gone through also set things up nicely for this book. It's almost as if Snyder spent all her time working out the backgrounds for each character, but then ran out of time to focus properly on the actual story.
On the other hand, events were able to be tied together at the end, and everything is very nicely set up for the next book.

The characters, despite switching their personalities from time to time, were probably the best part of the book.
Yelena was a very good protagonist. She annoyed me at first; I found myself shouting at her internally to 'get a grip of yourself', all the more since she as constantly being referred to as intelligent, yet she failed to show this until halfway through the book. After this, however, she started to stand up for herself and actually prove that she was intelligent. (I have no problem with characters that can't handle themselves; there are plenty of people who can't in the real world. It just annoys me when they're mentioned as being incredibly talented, but then never show it.)
Valek was good. I got a little confused, as Yelena kept referring to him in the narrative as if he was a wild animal, though I saw little evidence of it in the story. By his actual behaviour, I liked him; he was stern, but to the amount you need to be in his line of work. He was sweet with Yelena, though it did annoy me later when he suddenly morphed into a completely different character when he admitted his feelings. I'm all for romance, but at least keep it a little real.
Ari and Janco were my favourite characters by far. They're adorable; quirky; funny. Definitely like Yelena's big brothers, but because they were fiercely protective of her due to her helping them, there was a flare of friendship in there to rival the sibling-relationship they made. The best and wisest characters by far.

Pacing-wise, there was always something going on, but it wasn't always necessary, and events also became quite repetitive by the end. There was some comparison of the characters in repeated scenes, showing their development, which I assume is why they were included, but it would have been nice to get some unexpected scenes to mix things up a bit.

Overall, I think it's an okay book. I will go on to read the other books, because I do want to know what happened. But I've decided to start being stricter with my star-ratings, and unfortunately that means that Poison Study has to go down a little.
It's got some really good mystery and romance in there, and I can tell the fantasy aspect is going to be developed in the later books, so I think it's definitely worth reading for a nice change from the usual.

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Monday 28 October 2013

The Ocean at the End of the Lane



Book Title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Author: Neil Gaiman
Date Started: October 26th 2013
Date Completed: October 28th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Mystery
Rating: Five stars
Review:

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a beautiful book about a child growing up in a world he doesn't really understand; a world filled with magic and mystery, as well as the more common issues like family matters and learning about life in general. This book was so enjoyable to read, and I can tell the story is going to stay with me for a very long time.


There was a suicide on the narrator's road; a lodger who ran over the narrator's kitten and bought him a vicious, hissing cat instead. It's hard for a seven-year-old to understand such matters, even more so when it results in dark creatures emerging from the shadows and infiltrating their way into his life. He doesn't trust his new housekeeper - a varmint, as his friend's grandmother would say - but he has more to worry about than sneaking out of the house when it turns out she's a dangerous spirit that the narrator himself might have let loose into his world...

Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors of all time, and this book just proved it again. It's written beautifully. Magically realistic, and addressing taboo issues so innocently: it's like Gaiman can turn into a seven-year-old at will whenever he needs to write his next bestseller. There's such youthfulness in the words that really make the personality of the story and narrator come across to the reader, so they really care about what happens to them.
Aside from the amazingly vivid imagery produced and the adventurous storyline etc, Gaiman is also able to write a story about growing up and learning to make friends and look after yourself in such a way that, even with all the magic, is still really relatable to the reader. I was reading it, remembering similar experiences and feelings I'd had to the story.
There's a part very early on (page 12 in my edition) where the narrator simply talks about books and how he hid in them and how they allowed him to get away. That sort of thing is written a lot these days, but Gaiman wrote it in such a new, different way (I don't even know how) that it hit home for me even more than usual, and I actually had to pause and just think for a second.
It's beautiful and I really can't get over it.

The story was so different from anything else. It's clearly inspired by classics, and many aspects of this shone through, but I wasn't able to predict what was going to come next in the plot at all - which, of course, made it all the more exciting.
I love the twists and turns it went down. It was a roller coaster; events seemed to turn to the worst, and then it would get better, and then there would be a heart-plummeting moment when things went downhill again. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and I could barely put the novel down.
It really is a bitter-sweet ending. It's melancholy, and it's kind of sad, but there's that conclusion-kind-of-feeling where you can tell the story has come to an end, and you can accept it - even though you might not be happy with where it ended. There's also that inevitable feeling that there's more of a story to happen, and it's even more exciting to be able to think about what they might be by yourself.

The characters were great, and I believed every word they said and every action they made.
The narrator (he's mentioned as 'Handsome George' as a nickname at one point, so I'm guessing his name might be George - but I like the mystery of not knowing his exact name) was wonderful. He was brave, sweet and everything a seven year old should be. At times I actually thought it was Gaiman writing about his own childhood; the personality shone through in the text and it was written in such a way that you could easily believe would come naturally to a young child - and not to an adult.
Lettie was a great character, and I loved the faithfulness she showed to 'George', despite the fact that her relationship with him was more of a sibling-sort-of-thing. I really liked this, as well, because it made everything all the more innocent, and was a really nice breath of fresh air, considering the majority of books I read tend to have romances and/or siblings - nothing like friendships that are really strong.
Ursula was a great villain because I felt threatened by her, and you could see the impact she was having on 'George's' life. Ignoring the fact that there's magic for a second, even if you take all that away, she really damaged his family and the way he lived his life. You could even create a theory where the magic never existed, and all 'George's' adventures were a way to cope with what was happening to him. (I, personally, prefer the magical side, because real life is hard and boring.)

The pace was really good. It didn't feel like there was always something vital to the story going on, but there was always something interesting to read and learn about the narrator's world. The actual story was very well spread throughout the book; it wasn't dragged out too long, or not gone into in enough detail. It was just right for the story.

I recommend The Ocean at the End of the Lane to everyone who loves a bit of fantasy, and a completely new story. There's something unique about the way Gaiman writes, and the creations he thinks up. I loved reading this, and it was something new that also had echoes of childhood fairytales. It was just wonderful.

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