Wednesday 31 July 2013

Anna Dressed in Blood



Book Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Series: Anna #1
Date Started: July 29th 2013
Date Completed: July 31st 2013
Genres: Romance, Horror, Fantasy, Thriller, Action, Mystery
Rating: Four stars
Review:

I was really debating whether to give Anna a four or five star review - but I decided on four because I absolutely loved reading this book and it actually managed to have me glancing over my shoulder more than one in the couple of days it took for me to read it - but looking back on it there were a few things that I would have preferred a different way. Having said that, I still think it's an amazing book. I knew Anna Dressed in Blood was going to be good, but I didn't think it would be good to the point of making me not be able to put the book down at all.


Anna Dressed in Blood follows the story of Theseus Cassio Lowood - or Cas for short. Cas is a ghost hunter, like his father before him, and travels across the country banishing homicidal ghosts from our world. But when Cas hears about the infamous Anna Dressed in Blood, he's immediately drawn to the case. But he gets more than he bargained for when a young witch and prom queen decide to get in on the action of Cas' job - and Anna turns out to be the most powerful ghost he's ever seen. And there might be more than just the mysterious Anna lurking in the shadowed town...

I really liked the writing. It was quite easy to read, and I flew through the whole book partly because of this. It was quite simple, but still had all the relevant information and description. The action was written well, I wasn't always able to picture exactly what was happening, but I got the general gist and the style did make it really exciting throughout.
The atmosphere created did manage to make me quite paranoid. However, this was only really at the climax parts of the hauntings - I would have liked to see Blake freaking me out when nothing was happening to prove that she really could make people start jumping at their shadows.
It's the first book I've come across in a long time that you can definitely pick out a very individual character from the narration - without it being too stereotypical etc. Cas definitely has a personality that's very clear in the text, and really adds to the story and how I was influenced by everything that was going on. I found myself getting worried when Cas was, and understanding that things were more under control at other parts. I also felt like I was Cas at some parts - and at others I was able to fully understand and empathise what he was going through. This consequently made him a very real character to me.

I was a little bit put off right at the beginning, because it had the very typical and worn-out start of a new kid at school trying to get in with the cool kids and ultimately getting picked on or targeted by the big testosterone-driven males. In Blake's defence, I think it would have been hard to introduce the characters and beginnings of the story another way - but it still was a bit too unoriginal for me.
Luckily, that didn't last for long, and Blake's unique story began. I really liked the way you couldn't really predict what was going to happen, since the plot has so many twists and turns. The story really does go a long way, as well. Within the space of a few months, an awful lot of things happen to Cas and the others and I was surprised that so much was able to be packed into actually quite a small book.
The romance was really, really good. It wasn't even apparent until quite late into the book, where they didn't beat around the bush: they got right into it rather than spanning it out for ages and drawing all attention away from the other parts of the story. I also thought the actual romance was very well done; it was realistic in that it was almost shy at first, but then got bolder. Other people noticed it before the characters as well, which is always a good sign that the author knows what they're talking about and are willing to wait for the full affect of such a story device, rather than rushing into it (if that makes sense).
The ending could have been a tiny bit more climactic by maybe building up to it a little, but I think it was still done very well, and that it's a very good ending for this type of book; it definitely left me wanting more, so I'll be reading the sequel as soon as I can.

The characters are quite important in a horror book like this, because you really need to be scared or, at the very least, worried about what's going to happen to them and if they're going to be okay. I think Blake succeeded in this with some of her characters - but unfortunately not all of them.
Cas is now one of my favourite characters of all time. He's a great protagonist because he's always really on top of it, and you can tell that, although he might not always have the answers, he doesn't ever really stop and feel sorry for himself and give up. He's got a determination that I haven't really seen before in a Young Adult character. He's very realistic to me because his narration is so unique, and he has this certain flare that makes him both a very good person, and a force to be reckoned with. I really enjoyed learning his story, and I think he was masterfully written.
Anna was a very interesting character. I was never sure what to think about her, and that mystery added to the atmosphere of the whole book. I loved the way she had split personalities, with her defiant, vulnerable and sweet self that was more like her before she died - and then her angry, violent, destructive alter ego. I liked the development of her character once she got to know Cas and understood what was happening with the whole plot. I really wanted her to be okay.
Thomas was quite irritating at first, but then he's designed to be likeable once you know him. I did experience this, but when he started to get more obsessed over Carmel, my respect for him started to lower, and by the end I didn't really have much of an opinion of him. I do like him, but that's about it. I think there was potential to really make the reader connect with him, but it just didn't happen in the end.
Carmel really annoyed me. By the end, I could tolerate her, but I've never liked her. I was terrified more than a couple of times that she was going to end up with Cas. Luckily she didn't. But I just couldn't accept the arrogant prom queen turning all sweet and innocent. I know I am being rather judgemental and little unfair here, since she did go through hell during the book, that would have softened anyone up, but I just couldn't connect with her and didn't really want to.

The pace was up and down, because that's how books like this work. But even in the down-time it was still really interesting and relevant.
I found the action and climaxes extremely engaging and I think that Blake did a great job of creating a really diverse and dynamic plot that had its ups and downs, but for a reason that ended up making the whole thing more interesting.

(I am aware I may not be making much sense in this review, and that's because I'm just really tired, but I needed to get my thoughts down. Sorry about that.)
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes romance, supernatural things. There's definitely some mystery in there, and some well written action. I wouldn't read it if you're squeamish because it is quite graphic in its goriness. It's also very violent and times and quite disturbing - so make sure you're happy with that before you start reading.

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Monday 29 July 2013

City of Lost Souls



Book Title: City of Lost Souls
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments #5
Date Started: July 26th 2013
Date Completed: July 29th 2013
Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller, Action
Rating: Five stars
Review:

After City of Fallen Angels, I was actually quite worried about the progress of this series - I felt like it was continuing for the sake of 'pleasing' the fans. But, thankfully, my faith has been restored with City of Lost Souls. I think Clare might have been a little uncertain when she was writing City of Fallen Angels on how she was going to carry on the story, but she's definitely planted her feet on solid ground again now.


(Warning! Synopsis contains spoilers - so skip it if you don't want to know the ending of the previous book (if you already know or don't mind, then read ahead).)
City of Lost Souls is set two weeks into Jace's disappearance in City of Fallen Angels. Clary and the others are beside themselves worrying, and are about to turn to harsher means of locating him when he appears with Sebastian, Clary's brother that possesses demon blood in his veins. It is soon revealed that the two are bound to each other and there may be no way of getting the old Jace back again. But Clary's stubbornness refuses to be beaten, and she decides to join 'Team Evil', whist her friends in 'Team Good' work on a way to save her and Jace. But as Sebastian's plan starts to become clear, it seems that not only Clary and Jace are at risk - but perhaps the whole world.

I've really got into the flow of Clare's writing. I love it and everything just clicks in my head now.
The action is so well presented that I can picture everything that's happening in such a detailed way because of the combination of simple, but powerful description she uses. Her narration about the thoughts and feelings of the characters is done equally well, since they all act realistically and it really helps the reader understand and empathise with what they're going through. The description of the locations etc isn't as detailed and complicated as I typically like, but it's still enough to create a vivid picture in my head that works wonderfully.
I'm accustomed to the sarky attitude of the characters and I can tell what they're feeling and thinking by their body language and speech without the narrator having to tell me. It's the first series I've ever really read where I've grown to know the characters so well that I know what's going on with them and I can predict what they're going to do and how they're going to react to certain things. But, at the same time, Clare's always able to surprise me with something every now and then to stop the story getting too boring.

The story was very good. I think it might be my favourite plot of the series so far - in contest with City of Glass. What made it so good was that fact that there was one clear plot running throughout the whole book, which was what everything revolved around. But there were subplots around that that weren't completely detached, although they weren't completely vital to the main story.
The main idea is that Jace has been bound to Sebastian, and they all need to separate them so they can kill Sebastian and everyone evil will be dead once again.
First we have Clary's story, primarily involving Jace and Sebastian. The great thing about this for once is that the Clace relationship didn't dominate the whole story because Clary's brother was always there (and the fact Jace wasn't Jace, but it's complicated, so we'll just skip that part). This was really well thought-through and everything made sense when each new part was revealed. There was definitely a mystery element, and a constant sense of danger and vulnerability for Clary that was really engaging for the reader, and also just really interesting to pick up on. It build up slowly throughout the book to a climax, as well - which can sometimes be hard. (I also liked the non-love-triangle situation. It's a nice breath of fresh air.)
Secondly, we have 'Team Good' consisting mainly of Simon, Isabelle, Alec and Magnus. There were two smaller stories involving Simon and Isabelle's relationship and then Alec and Magnus', but I'll leave that for you to find out about when you read the book (because honestly it's probably the best part). Their story was to basically help Clary from the sidelines. Obviously, things are never that simple and it was soon a lot more complicated than that. But, even as their story spiralled dramatically from one thing to another, it never felt like it was out of control. There's always a feel in Clare's writing that she knows what she's doing - she doesn't rush to get to certain parts, and she understands each little thing is important.
And then, last but not least, there's the little Maia and Jordan story. I remember thinking when I started a few of their parts that I would get bored of them really easily. I hadn't really connected with their characters as much as I had with the others - probably because they had both been introduced further into the stories. But they actually grew on me a huge amount throughout this book. I can now safely say they're definitely among my favourite characters in the series, and I hope more drama gets to happen to them - but not over-the-top - because I enjoy their stories and narrations a lot.

I've already mentioned how I feel like I know these characters really well now - which I do. I've already read four of these books, and the fifth has just made the connections stronger. I always imagine each person with their voice inside my head, and I can understand a lot easier than when I first started. It's going to be sad when I have to say goodbye to them after City of Heavenly Fire.
Clary had started to get on my nerves during the last book, and definitely at the beginning of this book. I felt like she was always being described as this really courageous, reckless girl - when in fact the impression I got off her was that she was frankly a little bit stupid and rebellious. This actually really made me sad because I'd loved Clary so much to start with, and I felt like we were losing who she was as the series continued. Luckily, about halfway through City of Lost Souls, we got the old Clary back. She turned feisty and headstrong again, and no one really talked about her like she was so hero - they talked about her like she was a human being (or shadowhunter - whatever) that had made a difference, which is what she is.
Just like with Clary, I felt we lost the real Jace in the middle of City of Glass (maybe a little later) - even before he was possessed. I honestly fell in love with Jace Wayland. Jace Lightwood I really liked. When he turned into Jace Morgensten and Jace Herondale, I felt he'd just resulted in a pile of fancy names. But, once again, he seemed to come back from the dead in this book. Apart from when he was being bound (obviously) I felt like we really had the old Jace back and I just hope he stays like that for the last book.
Sebastian is a really good villain because you actually want to care about him. It's not that you're forced to care about him because of his past, you actually honestly do care about what's happened to him and you want him to not be a villain because he'd be a really good 'good guy'. But he's a brilliant baddie too: foreboding, threatening, angry, powerful. I like Sebastian a lot.
Simon isn't as awesome as he used to be, I don't think. I'm not quite sure why - and I still love him to death - but he doesn't grab my attention as being by far the best character any more. Having said that, I did find his little bits about his sister some of the most interesting of the whole book, and I think he's a actual realistic hero - something you don't come across all that much.
I really love Isabelle. I can't remember, but I don't think I liked her that much to start with. But, as I've grown to know her, she's really grown on me and I think she's one of the most believable people in the series and I just really hope everything works out for her in the end, because she's actually an incredibly good person.
I have changed my favourite character to Alec. I'm not even entirely sure why, but Alec Lightwood is just my favourite character now. He's still arrogant, and can be really annoying sometimes but I just really love him. It might be because I feel like I can relate to him, because his actions and feelings and behaviour is by far the more realistic to me, or maybe it's just because I think his character is just so interesting and dynamic. I think he's actually a really good person as well, and he does make mistakes, but that's just what adds to his credibility. My heart actually broke for him at the end, and I don't think anyone (except maybe Izzy) fully appreciates how everything affects him - he's not weak or sensitive by a long way, but everything that happens does dent his armour, and for good reason. I just think he's the most interesting, realistic and caring character - which is what attracts me as a reader.
Oh I love Magnus so much, as well. He's fabulous and not a lot more is needed to describe him. He's great with Alec and he's another interesting character that always catches my attention. I like the way he's very different from the rest of them, yet still seems to be comfortable with them whilst keeping his individuality.
I love Maia and Jordan to bits - they've grown on me so much and I just love them and I think their sub-plot is the most exciting and interesting and I love them. Enough said.
It's such a shame that Jocelyn still annoys me. Perhaps it's the rebellious teenager in me disagreeing with her protectiveness - but Izzy's right, it goes too far too often for me to understand her actions. That and she just kind of annoys me in general. But I do admit, her and Luke work really well together.
Which brings me onto the point: where the hell was Luke for the majority of the book? I understand he was indisposed but Luke's one of my favourite characters. The whole story pales when he's not in it for that long. The other reason I love Luke's character is that he shows the adult and serious side of the story without the irritation I get when Jocelyn presents it. I feel like the generally The Mortal Instruments is a fairly dark series - but Luke usually brings the politics and reasonings for why everything is the way it is into the story - which always adds that extra realism and detail that I really enjoy learning about. But he couldn't do that in this book - because he was featured in very little of it. This disappointed me.

The pace never really stops. That's the great thing about Clare's books. You never want to put them down because there's always something happening. But there's still enough differentiation that you can tell what the big climaxes are, and you get even more enthralled and excited for those parts.

Oh, and I hope Cassandra Clare's happy because the only couple in this book I vaguely care about (except for Maia and Jordan of course) in this series broke my heart. I've never been actually sad about a couple ceasing to be a couple because usually I think it's just drama waiting to happen. But I am actually affected by this - especially why.

(I realise this has been a very long review - sorry about that.)
I would recommend this book to anyone who's read the rest of the series - it's a leap up from the last book in my opinion. But if you like fantasy, romance, mystery, supernatural, action etc, then you definitely need to read the series. Please start at the beginning to avoid confusion and spoilers - but it's a must-read as one of the best Young Adult series' I've ever read.

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Friday 26 July 2013

Shadow of Night



Book Title: Shadow of Night
Author: Deborah Harkness
Series: All Souls Trilogy #2
Date Started: July 17th 2013
Date Completed: July 26th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, Thriller, Mystery
Rating: Four stars
Review:

This sequel had mixed reviews - some said it was terrible and nothing like the first, whilst others described it as being just as interesting, though maybe not as exciting. I agree with the latter. I can understand why people maybe not like Shadow of Night since, after the thrilling and dangerous events of the previous book, it was quite a surprise when nothing really happened event-wise in the whole 600 pages. However, I found all the smaller details extremely engaging and I think the story progressed an enormous amount - ready for the final novel.


Shadow of Night is set in 16th century England, Prague and France (I think that's it...). Diana and Matthew successfully managed to timewalk from the present day to Elizabethan London, and now must carry out their intentions of locating the illusive volume, Ashmole 782, whilst also finding Diana a teacher for her powers along the way. But as situations get complicated, it seems that the couple may not be as safe in the past as they had hoped.

Shadow of Night is not a kid's book. It's aimed mostly at adults, although it's reasonably easy for advanced young adults to read Harkness' work as well - if they have the patience and determination. It therefore comes as no surprise that this novel is written extremely well. I don't have much experience in adult book (other than classics, which aren't that helpful when comparing the style of modern texts) but I can guess that this is a among the most prestigious of the styles.
Harkness writes with a certain flare that makes her sophisticated style come to life on the page. I've always had difficulty imagining what's going on in a story when the writer has used such complicated structures and words - but I could picture everything that was going on in this novel, and with a fair amount of vibrance.
It really impressed me that something packed with so much detail and complex plot lines kept my attention for over 600 pages (with very small text too!). I was thinking throughout the whole thing and trying to work out what was happening as well as being able to simply enjoy the story.

The story concerning the whole trilogy progressed incredibly far: Diana's confidence and powers were truly mastered, and her and Matthew's relationship was taken quite a few levels up. Events in both the past and present provided the reader with vital information for the next book, and to truly understanding each character and their reasonings and personalities.
As a book on its own, however, not much actually happened. There weren't really any clear climaxes, and the whole story was pretty consistent tension-wise. I still really enjoyed it, but it seemed like it was more about supplying the reader with information about everything's past, present and future - rather than actually telling a new, story.

One of the downsides - and upsides, I guess - about Harkness' writing is that she writes and manages so many characters. It's quite impressive, but to be honest the confusion caused by it is slightly unnecessary since the story doesn't actually need that many complications.
I felt like we lost Diana for about half of the book. She says practically nothing for the first hundred pages or so. (I understand that that fitted with the era, but considering she's the main protagonist, it was slightly annoying since the story was ruled by arrogant men for a while.) But, when she did come back, it was the Diana we know and love - with a new fierceness that came with her progressing storyline. I do think she needs to start really sticking up for herself - she might stop men from saying harsh and sexist things about her, but she hasn't really shown herself as able to prevent them saying it in the first place.
I think I grew to like Matthew a lot more in this book. I seem to remember I did like him in A Discovery of Witches, but I found him a little too typical. I think he became more of his own person in this book - mostly because we saw him as independent away from Diana, due to his many connections to Elizabethan London etc. I also liked the way that his and Diana's relationship did break down a little bit a few times, and he reacted accordingly. He became a much more realistic and unique character.
Christopher Marlowe is a bloody jerk. Kit is not a nice person - although you've still got to feel pretty sorry for him. I think it would have been better if Harkness had demonstrated some of his and Matthew's 'best friend' status before he started acting up. However, I do think the particular twist he added was very interesting.
I love Henry (The Earl of Nothumberland) and I love Walt (Sir Walter Raleigh). (I also love the mentions to all these historical figures in the stories - it makes it stick out a bit more and lets the reader relate better.) They're both lovely; they're just really nice, kind, loveable characters that I think were very appropriate to lighten up the very grim landscape Diana was thrown into.
Other historical figures used in the book include George Chapman, Tom Harriot and one William Shakespeare. Tom and George didn't really stand out at all for me, and they were the members of the School of Night I always forgot. Shakespeare, on the other hand, was, unsurprisingly, very easy to remember, despite the fact he was only in one chapter at the very end. I think it would have been interesting for our protagonists to actually meet with him, although I understand how this might have been a little too predictable.
I like I love Matthew's family more than I love him...Gallowglass is yet another relation to the de Clermonts that I fell in love with. Being Matthew's nephew (and therefore my beloved Marcus' cousin) Gallowglass was a nice connection to the present. I liked the way he became almost as protective of Diana as Matthew was.
We also got to meet (spoiler - although it was reasonably predictable) Diana's dad. The only reason I'm mentioning him is that he is the only person in these books to make everything truly lighthearted. He's was such a nice character to have featured because he brightened the whole grim book for a couple of chapters. I like dark books, but sometimes it can be a little overdone - Stephen Proctor stopped this.
I love Jack and Annie - they're adorable and I was sad to see them disappeared into the past when Diana and Matthew left. I kind of hope in the next book they do research into the children to find out what eventually happened to them. I also really like Pierre - he is an awesome servant.
I really liked meeting Philipe. We heard so much about him in the first book, and sometimes meeting characters you've heard a lot about can be really disappointing - but Matthew's father was just as foreboding as he was described. I loved the effect he had on Matthew - and I really loved the twist in his character near the end of his inclusion. I was also sorry to see him go.
Mary Sidney was good - she was another person to lift a bit of the darkness from the story.
Now. Forget about Diana and Matthew. My new OTP is Marcus and Phoebe. I've always absolutely loved Marcus to death - and I loved Phoebe the minute I started reading her chapter. So you can probably imagine what I was like when they got together. I exploded a little bit. The next book better feature them a lot or I am going to kill something, I swear...
I know I've gone of for AGES about the characters, but like I said, there's so many of them. There are many others I could also mention (e.g. Louisa de Clermont, Rudolph, Queen Elizabeth, Sarah, Em, Peter Knox, Hubbard, Ysabeau etc.)

It's a very slow book. I can't really hide that criticism anywhere. It's a very slow book and I can understand why it might make people find the book hard to stay with. The writing also makes it quite hard to read fast, since it's sophisticated and detailed.
On the other hand, I did still enjoy it - and I have very little patience - so it is completely possible for other people who enjoyed the previous book, such as myself, and wishes to continue the story despite the pace to do so.

I felt, overall, that Shadow of Night was a very well written and thought-out book - although the purpose may have been more about setting the story and characters up for the final happenings, rather than being an individual story in itself.
Having said that, I would still recommend it to anyone who likes romance, fantasy etc. It's basically a well-written and more mature version of twilight - and when I said well-written and mature I mean it. It may be a little harder to get on with than the first book, and I understand that it is a very long book, but if you're willing to give it some time and patience, you will definitely be rewarded.
(My highlight was Marcus and Phoebe. Because Phoebe is a brilliant, intelligent girl who is just a natural role model. And Marcus is my favourite male character. Ever. End of story.)

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Vampires, Scones, and Edmund Herondale



Book Title: Vampires, Scones, and Edmund Herondale
Author: Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan
Series: The Bane Chronicles #3
Date Started: July 23rd 2013
Date Completed: July 26th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Action
Rating: Five stars
Review:

I think I'm starting to enjoy these novellas more than the actual series - they're a lot more mature and Clare pays a lot more attention to the story lines. It's also not consumed by two certain characters: it may well follow Magnus, but there's a lot of other characters that share the limelight with him and that we get to know.


Vampires, Scones and Edmund Herondale is set at the time when the Accords between Shadowhunters and Downworlders is being produced. Magnus joins the counsel in London, along with other fellow Downworlders and a selection of Shadowhunters, But the debates aren't as straightforward as Magnus might have hoped, and as the discussion spirals out of control, he decides to distract himself with a new friend that resides in London's Institute: Edmund Herondale.

There's definitely a style to Clare's writing, that fits wonderfully with Brennan's. After two books, they've gotten into the rhythm of writing together, and their own texts have combined comfortably to suit each other. I'm curious to compare Clare's writing on her own when I get around to reading the rest of her novels.
The description is a bit lacking of vibrance for me - but I'm a description geek. It's perfectly well done, and everything does have a certain level of vividness. The action is beautifully done, and the speech includes just the right amount of humour and seriousness to keep it engaging and relevant for the reader. I think this is appropriate especially for Magnus, since he's such a sarcastic personality, yet still has a reasonably high level of maturity.
It isn't really something we have in The Mortal Instruments (I haven't read The Infernal Devices yet, so I couldn't say about them) since all the characters are actually reasonably young, and those who are older tend to get a lot less time in the story or are presented oddly. This is probably the reason I'm starting to prefer the Bane Chronicles over The Mortal Instruments: because it has a certain level of maturity and 'business' that I can't pick out in her other work. Having said that, it is still quite lighthearted (despite the violence etc).

I think this was the best story out of the Bane Chronicles so far. Mostly because there actually was one. In the other stories, it seems to be just Magnus messing around or getting into trouble; there was actually a purpose in the third novella. And it all drew to a close at the end, like an actual story, rather than just leaving a frayed edge like a lot of novellas tend to do.
Furthermore, there were two plots running at the same time. To satisfy my older mind, there was the politics of the Accords and how the disagreements were reacted to, how it affected everything etc. I really like this, and it proved to me that Clare can write really good quality writing that isn't just romance and typical Young Adult things. And then, there was the typical Magnus side of the story, with his relationship with Edmund. The thing I really love about Magnus is he is clearly easily besotted, yet he has a unique way of going about everything; he's got a very closed-off personality and he's very careful who he reveals himself to. This fascinates me, and makes these little elements in the stories catch my interest very quickly.

Another thing I really loved about this novella was reading about all the ancestors of the characters in The Mortal Instruments. It got really confusing, and I still can't work out how far back it must be (a couple of generations?) but it just gave me a little extra thrill when I could associate each of the characters with people I already know and love from her other writing.
Magnus is growing to be one of my favourite characters from Clare's creations. He's so dynamic, and has multiple sides. There's always something you can read into and he's got that attitude that makes him funny, but also hints at a darker past and inner emotions. I think he's incredibly interesting. I'm glad these novellas have been created so I can really get to know his character a lot more.
I didn't make the connection with Camille as the vampire in City of Fallen Angels (which was incredibly stupid of me), but once I did it all started to make sense. I really like the way Clare has made these little connections that start to explain things in her other work, because it really ties everything in and makes it a lot more realistic and engaging since it makes the reader work to fit the puzzle pieces together in their minds, rather than just reading and having no reaction to it. I think she's a good character and I love the twists and turns her life holds.
Edmund was really sweet. He was a jerk at first, but a funny one. By the end I felt really sorry for him - and sorry for Magnus too. I also admire Edmund for doing what he did. It must have been tough - and I know it's not real - but I think it was a very good plot twist. (I just wish there had been more about how it had affected the decision of the Accords.)
And then there's all the other families: the Morgenstens; Wayland; Fairchild; Herondale (and no Lightwoods - I assume they're either in America or Alicante?) There wasn't much detail about their connections to the protagonists of Clare's other books, but it was still really nice to just be able to connect the names to people we already knew.

This isn't your typical fast-paced, action-packed Clare story. It's a lot more thoughtful than that. It isn't slow to start, or boring at all - it's just not what you would commonly expect, and I really found that attractive. She managed to make tension and danger and climaxes without having to use action or threats to make her intents clear; she did it purely with writing.
The great thing is there still is some action in it, and there definitely are climaxes and slower parts and everything that a good story needs in order to draw everything together. It was very well balanced and spread out through the story. There was just the right amount of thoughtfulness to make the reader think and sympathise, and then there was the exciting parts to give the audience a thrill.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Clare's writing. It's also a really good introduction to her writing, and her series' - so if you're not sure her writing is your thing, you can read this and try it out. I think it's the best in the Bane Chronicles so far, so if you didn't like the other ones, you might like this. It's got action, romance, fantasy, thoughtfulness and a level of maturity that isn't obvious in Clare's other work, so older readers might find it more engaging too.

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Tuesday 23 July 2013

Red Run



Book Title: Red Run
Author: Kami Garcia
Date Started: July 22nd 2013
Date Completed: July 23rd 2013
Genres: Thriller, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
Rating: Four stars
Review:

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this short story. I knew it was supernatural, and I expected the romance side, since the author is part of the Beautiful Creatures creation, but I really entered into the stories world with no idea of what to expect. And luckily I was impressed - not overly so, but it was good enough to definitely keep my attention and approval throughout.


Red Run is about a girl who's brother was murdered by a ghost. Edie, after meeting a pair of 'ghost hunters' decides to drive down Red Run - the road where her brother and five other victims of the ghost were murdered - to bring her brother's killer to justice herself. But when she finds a boy on the side of the road, asking for a ride, can she trust him? Or is he the murderer Edie set out to find in the first place?

The writing was actually really good. There wasn't a particularly strong part of it, but each element was consistent with each other, so that the whole quality was really high. You don't often get authors who are able to write just as confidently in description as they are in speech and action - but Garcia masters each of them.
Honestly, there wasn't anything that really impressed me about the writing, but for a Young Adult novella it flowed very well and was among the best styles I've experienced.

I really liked the story. It was so original and I thought the plot twists and just the thoughts behind everything were really well created and presented. It was really engaging throughout, and I was trying to work things out while the plot was unfolding.
I liked the mystery element, as well as the supernatural/thriller genre. The romance was great, since there wasn't that much of it, but when it was included it was very relevant and I actually found myself encouraging it in my head near the end.
What I liked most was the fact that a reasonably 'typical' Young Adult author actually created a whole new story that tricked the reader into thinking one thing, and then revealed itself as something else.

Garcia used only three characters in the whole novella (excluding those that were merely mentioned), which in itself is impressive when taken into account how interesting and engaging the actual story was.
I really liked Edie as the protagonist. She's a very clever girl, but we can actually tell she is. In most books we're either told a character is clever or they demonstrate it every now and then. With Edie, you actually got the feeling she was a very clever girl, just in the things she did and how she did them etc. She wasn't the typical horror girl who falls for the devil or whatever and then screams until she either dies or gets rescued. Without even stating it at all in her writing, Garcia showed us that her character was very clearheaded, intelligent and 'masculine'.
Tommy was very believable, and I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not to (I did guess right in the end - woo!) which was a really good element to put into a novella like this. It involves the reader very quickly to get them engrossed in the plot as soon as possible.
There isn't much to say about the old man - only that I thought his part to play was needed and carried out very well.
I really liked Edie's friends too. I thought their inclusion was crucial, and I actually thought they seemed like nice guys.

The pace was what you would expect out of a typical story: calm start, that starts hinting at danger as we're given different snippets of information, which then morphs into real danger, and then the climax, followed by the final slope to the bottom and the end. I think this worked well in novella format because it made the story easier for the reader to relate to and let Garcia focus more on her characters and story.
There were slower parts, but they were still important to the story and actually quite interesting anyway. It also let us get to know Edie's character a bit more, since the cross-cutting of time frames made the reader feel like they're known her for longer than the main plot spanned as.

I would recommend Red Run to anyone who likes supernatural thrillers with some mystery and a tiny bit of romance. It's a reasonably easy read and I really enjoyed it since I found it engaging, original and suspense-driven.

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Monday 22 July 2013

The Case of the Racehorse Ringer



Book Title: The Case of the Racehorse Ringer
Author: Anthony Read
Series: Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street Boys #7
Date Started: July 21st 2013
Date Completed: July 22nd 2013
Genres: Adventure, Mystery
Rating: Four stars
Review:

I do think that this is one of the best children's series out there. It might not be a 'classic' and have a clear moral, but such a good story for younger readers - and even I was really engaged throughout the whole thing.


The Case of the Racehorse Ringer carries on from the previous Baker Street Boys book, The Case of the Haunted Horrors, and follows Sherlock Holmes' irregulars as they try and solve a murder for which Gertie's father has been wrongly accused of. But it seems that the mystery has more to it than just a night of bloodshed.

The writing was appropriate for the age group this book was aimed at: basically, it was incredibly easy and gave the reader a lot of the answers directly. The speech was fairly unrealistic and didn't always suit who was speaking - but at the end of the day, this is a children's book, and therefore isn't necessarily affected by the peculiar use of language for the characters.
The thing I really love about Read's writing - and therefore hope he actually goes on to write some sort of Young Adult novel in the future - is that it has a huge amount of potential. He may be obvious with his descriptions and doesn't vary his vocabulary much, but I can see how each sentence could easily be tweaked by adding an extra adjective etc to make it a really interesting text.
At the end of the day, the writing style was very fitting to the age group this book is aimed at, and therefore was good enough to keep my attention whilst I was reading the story.

I love the innocence of Read's stories. I'd read all the other Baker Street Boys stories when I was younger and, since this was the last instalment, I felt obliged to finish the series.
The plot is always predictable, and the mysteries are easy to slow very early on, but that's what gives it a certain charm, I think.
Read's stories are always fast moving and simple to understand. Not that much tends to happen, honestly. One of the characters discovers a crime, and the rest start to investigate: Wiggins has his visit to Holmes or Watson, and one of the gang get an undercover job at the scene of the crime. They then continue to get into a bit of a mess, where they are then saved by their friends and get into contact with the police, where it turns out that Holmes has been following them the whole time and helps draw the case to a close. This episode is no different.
I liked the slight addition to the typical story with Gertie's father being involved, but there wasn't much else variety from the usual books in the series.

I felt a lot of the characters were neglected in this book, so I'm going to describe all of them anyway.
Wiggins is effectively the main protagonist, being the leader of the Boys and closer to Holmes than the rest of them. He always has a big part to play in the stories, as he did in this one. Wiggins is always the one to end up solving the cases, but to be honest I doubt he could do much with the help of his friends. But, since this is a children's book, that makes sense, so as to promote working together with other people.
Gertie is the tom-boy of the group; she refuses to wear a dress, and therefore gets jobs since the employers think of her as a boy (yet she still seems to advertise the fact she's female - which does confuse me a little). Her feisty attitude is definitely needed in the group, since the rest are all either trying to be sophisticated or are a little too cheeky for their own good.
Sparrow is lovely. He makes friends really easily, and he's good at adapting to new situations. This is probably why he's usually quite involved in the plots of most of the stories - he's regularly the member to go in as an undercover agent.
Beaver is Wiggins' right-hand man. He's very loveable, and quite slow most of the time too. He's hardly mentioned at all in this book, but when he is included in the stories, he usually has a big part playing as the leader's personal assitant.
Queenie is by far my favourite character - which is why I get really annoyed when she's forced to stay in HQ and very rarely gets a big part in any of the books. She's the 'mum' of the Boys, and has the loveable, protective nature that's common in older siblings in children's books (she does happen to be Shiner's older sister, as well). I've always related to her more than any of Read's other characters because she seems the most real to me (the little details mainly - correcting her friends when they get their grammar wrong, since only she and Wiggins can read and write - that sort of thing). But, because of this, she rarely gets in on any of the action.
Rosie always annoyed me a little bit; she's the 'damsel in distress'. Admittedly, I understand that this sort of character might appeal to some children reading the books, but her absolutely hopeless nature did get on my nerves quite a lot throughout the series.
Shiner is Queenie's brother, and again gets very little time in the limelight. Shiner is adorable, and I think he should be included more, along with his sister. I also want to know more about both of their pasts - the most we ever hear is that they ran away from their abusive father when their mother died, and then they never said another word about it.

The pace was fairly consistent, but it was never really that thrilling. We're thrown into the story right from the beginning, but it never really peaks that high on the excitement scale. Once again, due to the audience, it doesn't really matter that much, but it definitely sticks out from an older reader's perspective.

I haven't witnessed many adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's ideas before, but I definitely think this is near the top of my list for the ones I have experienced. They're reasonably true to history, and Doyle's traditional idea for the sorts of stories that took place, so I think that first of all is a great way to portray the series to a young age group.
The portrayals of Doyle's characters are slightly different to what I would imagine, but for children, I think the appropriate stereotypes were addressed in order to appeal to the readers. Holmes isn't actually included that much, leaving Watson to deal with the irregulars for a lot of the time, but there was nothing particularly wrong with this, and it definitely kept up the mysterious air around their idol. Mortiarty's presentation was a little too innocent for my older taste, but, once again, it fitted perfectly for the younger readers.

This book has four stars because, compared to other books aimed a similar target audience, it's definitely one of the best. I know I am reasonably strict with the ratings I give books so do not, however, presume I am comparing this story to those of the Young Adult or more mature genres - because I'm not. It's a very good book for younger readers, and that is why I felt it deserved such a high rating.

I would recommend this to anyone who has younger siblings that they want to get interested in mystery and Sherlock Holmes. I admit, I wasn't particularly thrilled by the idea of the Holmes series when I was younger, but after reading this books, I was definitely more eager to try them - so I think it's a great idea for getting your siblings/children etc into the stories.
If you're an older reader, maybe not. I read the book because I wanted to finish my childhood, but it might not appeal that much to anyone else my age.
But definitely recommended to younger readers. They're great for getting kids into reading etc.

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Sunday 21 July 2013

What Once We Feared



Book Title: What Once We Feared
Author: Carrie Ryan
Series: The Forest of Hands and Teeth #0.5
Date Started: July 21st 2013
Date Completed: July 21st 2013
Genres: Action, Thriller, Dystopian
Rating: Four stars
Review:

I've been hearing mixed reviews about Carrie Ryan's writing, and although it may be steering a little too close to horror for my normal tastes, I actually really enjoyed this novella, and look forward to reading her full novels.


What Once We Feared is set at the beginning of a zombie apocalypse, and tells of Jonah and his friends in the first hour or so after the undead started ruling the streets. After running desperately from their school trip, the five teenagers find themselves stuck in an apartment building with no where to go and lifts carrying the zombies towards them. They have to trust their instincts and abilities to keep them alive.

I really liked Ryan's writing. There was nothing particularly exceptional about it, but it flowed perfectly well and the description was very good. I also liked the narration: you can tell Jonah's a clever boy, but there's none of that annoying inner monologue - it kept true to the instinct-driven nature of people in this situation.
I also got really engaged in the writing. It was extremely thrilling and it ended up making me read the whole thing in one go (admittedly, it was fairly short, but do remember I have a reasonably short attention span). The action caught my attention and I could sympathise with the characters since their emotions and situations were portrayed in a way that made you notice them, but didn't make it blindingly obvious (if that makes sense).

There wasn't much of a story, but for a novella a lot happened. I suppose it's hard to write proper plots set in an apocalypse with under one hundred pages to detail things in. But that didn't stop it from being very interesting and engaging to read.

I don't know if these are the characters that are focused on in The Forest of Hands and Teeth series (I don't think so, since I've heard the protagonist of those stories is a girl), but I kind of hope they are, since I really want to get to know more about them.
Jonah was a good narrator. He was presented very realistically, and even in the short time we knew him, I got a good understanding of his personality and relationships with the other teenagers. I think he dealt with his situation very well, and I liked the way that he was mentioned as being an idiot a few times - that little thing just really brought him to life, I think.
Nicky annoyed me a little bit, but to honest I can't blame her for being hysterical.
I do feel it was a little too fitted to stereotypes, since it was the girls that cracked under the pressure, and the boys that shouted and fought etc, but at the end of the day it didn't really matter for such a short story, and it didn't stick out that much.

The pace didn't waver for the whole thing. Like I said, I read it in one go because it was just so thrilling. It drew me in straight away and I didn't want to put it down.
I think that worked especially well since What Once We Feared is a novella. I think where a lot of authors fall down in short stories is that fact that they try to create this whole story, with character development and a range of paces and atmospheres etc etc, in such a short instalment of writing. And most of the time it just doesn't work. What Ryan did well here was that she understood she couldn't create a whole plot in this little novella, so she created an action-packed terror-driven excerpt that had me on the edge of my seat for the whole time.

The reason I didn't give this novella five stars was that I couldn't think of anything exceptional about it. I really liked it, so it got four stars. I was considering giving it five stars, but I'm quite strict with the ratings I give books, because I want everything I say to be as honest as possible. So, because I couldn't pick out anything particularly amazing, I gave it four stars. But it's definitely worthy of bordering five, and you should definitely check it out.

I would recommend What Once We Feared to anyone who loves dystopians and action. There's zombies and loads of thrills and quite a few scares too. It's a really fast-paced, engaging story that doesn't drag on and is reasonably easy to read, but still has enough detail to make it really interesting to read, as well as experience.
As my first taste of Carrie Ryan's writing, I'm impressed and look forward to reading her other short stories, and full novels.

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Wednesday 17 July 2013

Throne of Glass



Book Title: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #1
Date Started: July 15th 2013
Date Completed: July 17th 2013
Genres: Mystery, Action, Adventure, Romance, Fantasy, Thriller
Rating: Five stars
Review:

Oh the epicness of Sarah J. Maas. I was worried, after reading the prequel novellas, that the hype I had created in my own mind was be just too hard to achieve, but, once again, I was staggered by the awesomeness that is the Throne of Glass novels.


Throne of Glass is set in the fantasy world of Erilea, and begins in the death camp of The Salt Mines of Endovier. Celaena Sardothien has been imprisoned for a year after getting caught on one of her missions as Adarlan's Assassin. But when the Crown Prince turns up offering her freedom after four years in service to his father, Celaena finds it hard to turn him down - even the challenge of competing for the position doesn't put her off. Until she arrives in Rifthold, and realises that it is not only the training sessions, heart-melting allies and violent kingdom battles raging for the power of the Glass Throne.

Sarah J. Maas is one of the best Young Adult writers out there, not just for her stories, but also her writing. It flows perfectly and everything connects to each other:
The description is lovely, but not too overpowering.
Emotions are really well presented, so that we can tell what the characters are thinking and sympathise - even empathise - with them without the author having to tell us exactly what's going through their minds.
The action is flawless; I can picture everything that's happening and I'm amazed by it without even having to see it in real life. It's so detailed, yet really easy to understand.
Maas really knows how to think like an assassin too (which may or may not be worrying) so that her characters are incredibly real to me and I feel like I really grew attached to them whilst reading the novel.

Oh my god, the story. I never thought a plot could have so many twists and turns and different genres and everything else.
The start of the story seems pretty simple: the protagonist has to complete a quest-type challenge in order to win her freedom and get the love interest. But then you start to see the opposing sides of the boys that surround her. And then there's the subplot of the courting lady wanting to marry the prince, who's caught up in someone else. And then there's the story about trying to get rid of Celaena so she can have the prince. And then Maas blows everything out of the water by adding the magical inclusion of a ghost queen and her quest for Celaena to save the world from a terrible darkness.
There's so much mystery in it too: what's going on with the murdered Champions? What happened in Celaena's past? Who can we trust? Do these characters really like each other? Is Celaena going to win? Is the bad guy going to turn out to be good or is he going to kill someone? My mind would not shut up with these questions throughout the whole thing. They're not even stopping now.
Thank god for writers who can include romance a lot and still not let it interfere with the main plot too much. There's just the right amount to make it one of the main themes, but still different enough to let other genres have their own spotlight too.
Mystery. Action. Thriller. Romance. Fantasy. There's everything, written wonderfully, with the most intriguing characters. What more could you possibly want?

Some of the best characters ever - and although at first glance it may be your typical set-up of a story, each person has their own individual twist that sets them out from the others and their origins.
Celaena Sardothien is my favourite female protagonist of all time. She's sarky, arrogant and frankly rude - and not in the nice, joking way. Looking over it, she's actually not a very nice person at all. Yet that's exactly what her characters need to be. And it just goes to show that even though some people may seem horrible and tough on the outside, the inside holds a lot more secrets than you might think. Plus, she's a very interesting person: amazingly talented, but with a shadowed background. And we STILL know hardly anything about her and her past. That's the exciting bit.
I've never been really drawn in by love triangles before - but this isn't really the typical fighting over a girl that I'm frankly just bored of. This is proper not wanting to hurt other people's feelings, but not being able to stop that selfish desire that you just can't help:
I love Dorian. He's a very good prince. The right sort of character that you'd expect: elevated language, pride, but also a softer side that does feel a lot. The thing I liked was that he wasn't made out to be one thing and then shown as another. He was always mentioned as quite a mellow person. He also worked well with Celeana since they were able to bounce off what each other was saying in such a way that it was really engaging for the reader to experience - which I think is sometimes lost. I thought it was going to be really hard for me to like any other male characters after falling in love with Sam from Maas' novellas, but actually I still love these male interests (but Sam will always be mine and he will never be replaced - never).
But I also really love Chaol. His and Dorian's relationship was a great idea - because it made their emotions real and different to what you'd usually see in a love triangle. The other thing I really like about Chaol was that we were told he wanted to hide his feelings, and he did that for the entire book (e.g. we weren't told he was one way, and then he acted another - which always pisses me off in novels). This also worked very well since it allowed most of the drama to be focused around Celaena's quest etc, rather than the 'Twilight' affect of the plot being lost within a frankly monotonous cycle of stereotypical romances.
Nehemia grew on me. At first I really didn't like her and, honestly, found her very annoying and irrelevant to the story. But actually, I started liking her character by the end and I understand her role was actually vitally important to the plot. I take my first judgements back.
Kaltain was the typical 'popular' girl that just makes trouble because of her jealously. Usually I would object to an appearance of such a character in this type of story, since it generally isn't need. But I admit that her part was quite important to the story, and also she wasn't completely and utterly unbearable, although I do understand why everyone hates her.
If I ever get another dog I'm calling it Fleetfoot.
The mentions of Sam killed me. Literally broke my heart and threw it into the wind.

We're thrown right into the story from the start, and it never stops. There's plenty of tension from the very first sentence, and the audience is left puzzling over what's happened, and what's going to happen.
Even throughout the journey and when they reach Rifthold, there's tension everywhere, and drama is around every corner. But the best thing is it doesn't get boring - and nothing is light and, frankly, stupid. Everything has a point and refined quality that makes it believable and truly adds to the story.
It's clear what parts are the climaxes, and they're definitely different from the other parts, whilst still letting everything have it's own worth and effect. I honestly felt my heart leap into my throat for the first time in a long time in the final climax of the book - which is very impressive since action/fight scenes rarely get that sort of reaction from me.
Admittedly, the last few chapters slowed the whole thing down, but that's only to be expected. I would have liked a little more of a cliffhanger, although there's still plenty for me to worry about for what's going to happen in the sequel.
The one downside I have about the entire book - and literally the only reason this is not now my favourite book - if that generally the basic story was fairly old. However the countless new twists on it made it amazing still.

Sarah J. Maas has said in plenty of interviews how Throne of Glass is inspired from Cinderella. 'I ended up thinking that the music [of Cinderella] would be better suited to the plot if Cinerella had done something truly bad [...] what id she tried to kill the Prince?'
You can definitely see elements of Cinderella in Maas' story - particularly in the masked ball scenes.
Yet what's so different about this 'alternative' fairytale is that the story is completely new and original and unique. I feel that a lot of authors try to retell classic stories because they don't have to put much effort into the stories, since they're only there, so they can focus more on background etc. But Maas has really taken time to look at all aspects of her world and make sure everything fits and works and is both beautiful and magical, yet believable and realistic - which is something that will always impress me about authors that bother to do this.

I would recommend this book to everyone, since it is definitely one of my favourite books of all time. It has action, romance, mystery, thrills, fantasy - literally everything. The writing is fabulous, and the story is unique and always engaging and interesting.
You can read the novellas first if you like - I did - but it might make you suffer emotionally at certain parts of the book.
I need the next one. Now.

Image Source: http://www.sassisamblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Throne_of_Glass.jpg

Monday 15 July 2013

The Maze Runner


Book Title: The Maze Runner
Author: James Dashner
Series: The Maze Runner #1
Date Started: July 13th 2013
Date Completed: July 15th 2013
Genres: Mystery, Action, Adventure, Dystopian, Thriller, Romance
Rating: Four stars
Review:

Despite having given up on this book a while ago after getting through the first seventy or so pages, it turned out to be a surprisingly good read. I understand why I didn't like it to start with, since the beginning is fairly repetitive, but actually, after taking the time to really get into it, I really enjoyed the whole thing.


Thomas wakes up in the darkness without a single memory of who he is, where he comes from and what is happening. When the doors of the Box creak open, and numerous curious faces peer down at him, Thomas thinks he might be losing his mind. He's soon engulfed in life in the Glade, the centre of an endless maze that traps a group of teenage boys inside. But when an unconscious girl turns up in the same week, and supplies start to dwindle, it seems the boys might need to escape their prison sooner than they had thought.

I don't have a lot to say about the writing. It was okay, but not amazing.
It didn't exactly flow like most books I read, but it wasn't hard to read because of this either. It wasn't hard reading, but it wasn't dead easy either. It was a little bit in the middle, on all levels.

The reason I gave up on this book the first time is because it just didn't interest me and nothing really happened. Having read it again, I stick by that decision, but am glad I had a little more patience this time.
For the first hundred pages, the same thing happens pretty much again and again and again: Thomas gets taken somewhere to be shown the ropes; asks some typical questions; gets ignored; gets annoyed. It's just very repetitive, even though I accept that it might have been needed to show the Glader's reluctance to answer him.
Also, a lot of the seeds for the main plot are introduced in the first part of the book, yet nothing seems to happen to any of them. I think this was the main thing that drove me away last time: it seemed like loads of good things got introduced, were there for a couple of pages, and then just disappeared and sat in the corner for ages. It's easy to let yourself think nothing's going to happen to them.
Fortunately, this isn't the case. Once the plot actually kicks off, it's incredibly engaging and interesting. There's a real mystery, that we fully empathise with, since we know just as much as Thomas does as he goes through these experiences. It's based strongly on how the boys react to their situations, and the reactions are very realistic, which also credits the story.
The ending was very, very good. I did get spoiled, so the affect wasn't quite as much as it would have been, but it was still very thrilling and intense; I found it hard to put my book down.
And there's now another author I have reason to hate. Although, I felt a lot more detached from the story that I usually would in such a situation, considering how much I loved the character (spoilers).
Good cliffhanger too. It leaves a lot open for the next books, but also kind of closes off as well, so I wouldn't have to read the other books if I really didn't want to (I do though).

Considering this is a book about boys being boys, I thought all the characters were very individual and interesting for their own qualities and traits.
Thomas was alright as the main character, I just didn't see anything particularly special about him. I think he really is very brave, intelligent and a good person etc, but I think the reactions from the other boys were a little over exaggerated (it almost seems like certain parts of his personality have been edited out, and we're then only left with a half-Thomas).
Teresa annoyed me a little if I'm honest. There's nothing specifically bad about her; it just annoys me when female characters are all bold and strong in tongue and reputation, but then become really flimsy in actual situations. I've got nothing against a girl who isn't kick-ass; it just annoys me when we're told that a character is so strong and brave and against the stereotypical image of women, and then they turn out not to be.
Every story has to have a loveable character that's just innocent and cute. And The Maze Runner's is Chuck. I absolutely love him, and wished we could have learnt more about him, and got to see more of his and Thomas' relationship. It was also very good how Chuck was mentioned as annoying several times, since it got rid of the 'perfect' illusion that might have otherwise been present.
I found Gally the most interesting character, which is why I was really disappointed when he disappeared halfway through the book and had very little time for the reader to get to know him. I thought the tension and aggression he provided was exactly what was needed to create another plot, apart from the Maze hysteria, yet it wasn't used.
Newt, Minho and Alby were all good additions to the story, because they were needed. I really like Minho, as I think we're meant to, but his story was a bit all over the place: I thought he was a leader at one point; then Tom's best friend; then I thought he might be dead; and there were parts when I thought he was a complete coward etc etc. Maybe that was intended, but there you go. Alby confused me, and Newt was a good leader because he made mistakes a lot.

The pace was very inconsistent. The main problem is that something is always happening - but most of the time it told us very little about the characters or plot, so was pretty meaningless.
Like I've said, the beginning just repeats itself over and over, but things do start to pick up a bit after the first hundred pages or so. After that, a lot does happen, so the reader is very engaged with the story and what's happening.
In the last fifty pages, all hell broke loose and I could not stop reading. So much happened I hardly had time to fully realise and understand what was going on until afterwards. In a way, this could be seen as a bad thing after the extremely slow start to the novel: if the action had been spread out throughout the whole book, it's likely Dashner's creation would have really impressed me.

Despite what I may have inferred, I did actually really enjoy this book. It definitely has its flaws and continuity errors, but that doesn't stop it from having a really good plot and great characters. I just wish a little more detail had gone into a lot of things.
I would recommend The Maze Runner to anyone who likes action, adventure, a little bit of romance, dystopians, mystery and definitely thriller (bordering on horror; very Lord of the Flies).
Bear with it: if it feels like the story is just going around in circles at the start, don't worry, things do start to be revealed and the plot progresses massively further on.

Image Source: http://www.robisonwells.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/uk_maze_runner.jpg

Saturday 13 July 2013

Blackbringer




Book Title: Blackbringer
Author: Laini Taylor
Series: Dreamdark #1
Date Started: July 10th 2013
Date Completed: July 13th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Action, Romance, Mystery
Rating: Four stars
Review:

Blackbringer is your typical epic fairytale: female protagonist that hunts devils finds her biggest mission yet, but discovers she has extraordinary abilities in the process and eventually has to unite forces and challenge herself in order to succeed - but the new ideas and concepts presented in this novel changed my perception of fantasy, and raised it to a new level.


Blackbringer is set in the faerie land of Dreamdark, where Magpie, a young faerie who hunts devils with her clan of crows, finds a puzzling scene left she tracks clues back to a boat in the middle of the ocean. When she realises that this is no ordinary demon she is after, the faerie returns home in order to source evidence of what this new danger might be. But darkness is falling over Dreamdark, and with the Djinn's Champions died out, who is going to save the mystical land?

Since this is Taylor's first published novel, it was inevitably less sophisticated than her bestselling Daughter of Smoke and Bone series (which, if you know me reasonably well, you'll know is my favourite book of all time).
I found the writing, not bad, but slightly less smooth and slick than what I'd usually read. This wasn't that important, but I found it took a while for me to get into the book just because I had to get used to the language: a lot of slang for faerie's dialect was peculiar with the almost formal style of the main text. It just took a little bit of getting used to, but once I had, it worked very well, and actually enforced the fantasy idea, since it was very different from much I've read in the past.
Sometimes I did find it a little hard to keep up with what was happening; sometimes I'd be reading a scene and suddenly a new character I wasn't aware was present would say something and I'd have to glance back to see if I'd missed their entrance. Again, that might have been me getting tired and finding it hard to focus, but the amount of times it happened, I think some of it might have been the actual writing.
The action and events were written very well; I could picture most of what was happening. For example, in the ending battle scenes, I could imagine Magpie and Talon and the Blackbringer and everything else fairly vividly. This added to the story a lot, because obviously I felt more involved with the story and closer to the characters.

Although it seems like your bog-standard, run-of-the-mill story when you're reading it, looking back, a lot actually happened that I've never really seen before. I didn't really predict what was happening, or what was going to - so it wasn't that typical of its genre. On the contrary, a lot of the twists were very different from a lot of things I'd experienced in the past. However, I suspect this is more to do with the fact that the ideas and concepts created by Taylor are so original and fascinating that that allowed her to create a reasonably normal story, and still interest a the reader.
The end was very good; you don't get a lot of writers that are able to completely lure the reader into a false sense of security and then take it away so swiftly. I liked that a lot.

Magpie was good as the main character. I liked the way she was very strong and fierce, but didn't act like she was putting it on to appear that way - she obviously just had that personality very naturally. She was also very loving, in the way that was gentle and innocent - but not to the degree where you're just reading it and roll your eyes because you're bored of how perfect she is. Magpie's definitely a flawed character, but she's a lot more normal than most. (I suppose that could be a negative too - I didn't really see anything particularly weird about her that might appeal more to a teenage audience, but it didn't make that much of an impact on the story in the end.) I would have liked to discover a little bit more about why she was so special etc, etc, but that might come more in the sequel.
Talon. I can't even. He's amazing. I'm so happy that the male stereotype wasn't used here - and especially since Magpie isn't particularly fitted for that stereotype either. Talon is a hunter, and a warrior, and strong, and good-looking, and frankly very alluring - but he's talented in creative ways and he's passionate about creating things - not banging in the heads of every bad guy on the planet. (The man knits for heaven's sake! I mean, what better destruction of the stereotype can you have?) But I was waiting for the whole book and then...(spoilers). I need sequel - I need to know if...(spoilers).
Honestly, I cannot tell the difference between all the crows (I know there's Calypso, Maniac, Mingus...well my memory failed there). I can't even remember how many of them there are, so I'm going to describe them in one. I really liked them. I think the idea of Magpie being basically raised by this loveable creatures was brilliant, and it definitely emphasised her wild character. They're all very likeable, and clearly feel strongly for their 'lass'. I also liked the way they interacted with the other characters: they were always wise and somehow superior, yet they were also humble.
Poppy was okay - I didn't particularly like her, but there was nothing to make me dislike her either. I suppose she was needed, but her character I feel was either not involved enough if her character was really key in the story - or included too much if she was just really there to show that Magpie had friends.
Snoosti is the best name in the world, first of all. And secondly, she was a very loveable character that you can clearly picture bringing Magpie up.
The Magruwen was very good: godlike, but also bad-tempered to the degree where you consider him being the bad guy. I'm glad he wasn't.
I wish the Blackbringer actually had more of a character. He was referred to as a person, and then he did have a bit of speech at the end, but I felt like it should have been more goading and threatening, rather than literally just a shadow that laughs and eats things...

Like I've already mentioned, I did find it quite slow to start with, but that was more because of the style of writing, rather than the story. The plot actually starts very quickly, and we're more or less enveloped in it straight away.
When I was reading it, it felt like everything that was written was needed in order to make the story work really well and allow everything to make sense, but I actually can't remember what the second third of the book really includes. I'm sure there is a lot of important stuff in there, it just feels a little bit like it may have been important, but it wasn't exciting enough to make me remember that (although that might just be me being very tired).
I was impressed at the end, however, when the pace picked up dramatically and then dropped, and picked up again - there was so much tension that at the very end I wasn't quite sure whether I should expect something else to happen.

Laini Taylor has such an imaginative mind. I love the concepts in her other books, and she doesn't disappoint in her earlier works either. The ideas she comes up with are so original, even if I didn't like her characters and stories (which I do), I'd read all her books just to learn about this wonderful creatures and their magic, and cultures etc.
The Moonlight Gardens were a lovely idea of heaven for the faeries; the god-figures of the Djinns; Bellatrix the dead Champion; the pomegranate seed; the tapestry that creates all magic and devils and everything in the fairy world; the spiders; even the Blackbringer himself, a shadow that leaves no trace of anything ever being created where he attacks. I particularly liked the idea of the skins that faeries could put on to turn into animals - especially since it meant Talon could actually fly.
The best part about all these new ideas and concepts, is that it made the story so new and unpredictable, even though - when broken down - it's a fairly typical fairytale. It just brought everything to life.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy, first of all. It's a very fantasy-driven book, but it's new and different from anything I've read in the Young Adult genre. It's also very good for action, and story, and characters. There's a little bit of romance, but I have a feeling that will come more in the second book. It really is a good book - despite my criticism; it's hard to write a review about the early works of an author who wrote your favourite book ever.
It may be a bit slow to start off, but it definitely does pick up - especially at the end where you're treated to a very epic conclusion of the book.

Image Source: http://thebooksmugglers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Blackbringer.jpg

Tuesday 9 July 2013

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time



Book Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Author: Mark Haddon
Date Started: July 7th 2013
Date Completed: July 9th 2013
Genres: Mystery, Adventure
Rating: Five stars
Review:

I've been hearing recommendations of this book for literally years, but I've never got around to reading it until now. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it was infinitely better than I could have imagined.


The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is about fifteen-year-old Christopher. Christopher is autistic, and detests the colours yellow and brown, but likes dogs and the colour red. One night, Christopher finds his neighbour's dog killed with a garden fork and decides to investigate the crime. But his investigation spirals a little further than just the mystery of the dead dog, and soon Christopher's whole world is thrown into a turbulent and confusing muddle of stressful events.

The accuracy with which Haddon writes from Christopher's perspective is staggering. I haven't done as much background research on the author as I usually do, so I don't know what kind of research he did to get to the stage of actually writing his book, but the way with which he portrayed the boy's feelings and thoughts was so clear that it made the character so real to me.
I was extremely moved by the way he wrote Christopher's situation, especially at the parts where the character was in a place he didn't know or understand and the way his thoughts spiralled completely out of control. It was written on a level with which I was able to empathise, and I understood Christopher to the point where I actually cried because I knew how terrible and confusing and absolutely terrifying it must be for him.
Yes. This book is officially the fourth book to ever make me cry.
On top of that, just generally the writing flowed very well and even the intellectual excerpts and in-depth descriptions of maths problems and scientific theories were told in such a way that I actually kind of understood them - or at least appreciated them enough to understand why Christopher used them in the way he did.

The story was ingenious. It grew throughout the whole book, and it's quite a short novel. What begins as a murder mystery, turns into almost a coming-of-age story, and then to an adventure, and back to a mystery, and then a drama and it changes so much, so well that I couldn't class it under any one genre.
You could tell the plot had been carefully deliberated before it was written, since everything made sense when added together, and it all slipped into place so that when certain things were revealed, you took a moment to just marvel at the orchestration of the whole thing.
I didn't see a lot of the plot coming, as well. Some of it was a predictable, but nothing was obvious as you went through. You came to the point where you were so engrossed in the story and the feelings of the characters that you didn't even have time to think about what might be happening behind the words that Christopher is saying to us.

Christopher is one of my favourite protagonists. This is because he is so completely and utterly real to me. It helped having the story told through his eyes, so I knew what he went through - but just the completely naive innocence that he has all the time; and yet the absolute genius of his mind. I don't know much about autism, but I understand it a whole lot more now. (I honestly think that everyone should have to read this just to understand what some people have to go through as part of their everyday life, and how astonishingly exceptional they are because they manage to do it). He jumped off the page and moved me to tears when he was in harder times. I haven't connected with a character so much in a long, long time.
Christopher's dad is a brilliant character. I get the feeling that we're influenced to dislike him, after his sins have been revealed (spoilers), but I don't. I don't agree with what he did at all, but I understand why he did it, and I take that into consideration when judging his character overall. I think he was a brilliant part of the plot and it really outlined how these things can affect family life.
Siobhan I love. We never really properly meet her, but I love her, and I admire her, and I'm proud of a character that doesn't even exist because I know there are people like that in real life, and Siobhan is a perfect representative.
The other main female character (of which I will not name because spoilers) was also very good. I found myself disliking her more than Christopher's father, which I don't think was the intention, but I did. Again, I understand why she did certain things, but I feel she had more choice in the matter.

The pace was complete throughout. There may not have been action scenes to create climaxes like most of the books I read, but there were still very clear climaxes that really caught the reader's attention. I also think that even the down-time parts of the book were interesting and didn't discourage me from reading.
I found I read this book mainly in one day, in one chunk of around two hundred pages, with a little bit on either end. It's quite easy reading, but even so, I wouldn't have been able to do that if the pace had been too slow, or if the plot was a bit lacking or anything like that.

I would recommend this book to everyone. I honestly believe everyone should read it, because it opened my eyes - and I like to think of myself as a fairly aware person. It's also a brilliant piece of writing, with mystery, drama, facts and everything in there. I can't really describe how amazed I am at this book. But it made me cry. And considering only four books have ever made me do that, that counts for a lot.

Image Source: http://media.onsugar.com/files/ons1/303/3032039/16_2009/75/0099450259.jpg

Sunday 7 July 2013

Bright Young Things



Book Title: Bright Young Things
Author: Anna Godbersen
Series: Bright Young Things #1
Date Started: July 2nd 2013
Date Completed: July 7th 2013
Genres: Romance, Adventure, Historical
Rating: Four stars
Review:

I was taking a risk when I read this book, because the genre is so different to what I usually read, it's likely that if I'd hated it, I'd be discouraged from trying anything like it ever again. But actually, I really did enjoy it much more than I expected to.


Bright Young Things is set in the raging 1920s, where ambition and money is what drives America. Cordelia and Letty are desperate to escape their dreary lives in Ohio, so run away to New York, and overnight find themselves lost and unaware in this strange new city. After a childish argument, the two find themselves separated; one to go to a vastly rich estate of her mysterious newfound father's; and the other to carry on and follow her dreams of being on the stage. But how far do dreams and money get you in this evolving world?

I liked Godbersen's writing. I haven't really read anything like it before, since it has the narration from the 3rd person that fits the contemporary language perfectly - yet it still has the simplistic and humours nature found in most Young Adult books. It did throw me a little, when I began reading this story like it was written in such a time - but I liked it overall and it did help with the story.
I think it was a good call to write the book through 3rd person, since we're able to get a lot more important details, and the emotions of the characters are very obvious. I admit, this did annoy me a little, since I like to reading books where you have to work to get the full effect of the story. However, it did reflect the almost 'innocent' attitude most people showed in their behaviour and actions of the time, so it did actually contribute to the story.

I'm not sure if there's a fixed story I can evaluate. There wasn't really a plot, which I have to say was a draw-back. Not because I got bored - I didn't - but just because it's one of those things that a novel really needs to be absolutely amazing. Aside from the fact that these girls come to New York looking for a new life and identity, and go about finding it in different ways, there isn't a main plot that occurs during the story. A lot of events happen, but they don't link together consequently to create a purposeful story. It's much like you would expect someone's life to happen - although a lot more dramatic. This took a bit of getting used to for me, but I still found it enjoyable to read, nonetheless.
I wish it had had more thrills. It was all very nice learning about these girls and their new lives, but there were so many opportunities for drama that were just missed. Maybe I'm expecting something that doesn't happen in this genre, but I'm so used to reading action/adventure thrillers I just couldn't adapt to a simpler story.
The progression of the story to do with each character was very good, since all three stories linked together strongly, yet it didn't feel like any one was more important than another.

This book is very strongly character based. And luckily, there are some very good characters.
Cordelia, I feel, is probably the main character, since the biggest events, and first accounts, are told through her chapters. She wasn't the best protagonist I've ever read, but I've read very few books with protagonists just as Cordelia. I liked her little story, and I think she fitted into it very well. She's clearly a very ambitious, adaptable person, and I think that was really needed in the story to give it that little bit of attitude.
Letty was lovely, although she did get on my nerves a few times: I just felt like yelling at her to pull herself together or grow up, but at the end of the day, you couldn't really blame her for reacting the way she did. I just feel that her story is such a key part of the book, it would have been more interesting to read if there was a very strong character there instead.
Astrid is my favourite character. At first glance, she seems like a bit of a bitch, to be honest. But actually, I think she's very interesting and genuine in her reactions, because of the way she was brought up etc. I particularly liked her because of her wildness and carelessness which was just perfect for the 20s. The strange thing is, her story would have really annoyed me if it had been in another novel, since it mainly consists of romantic frustration, but actually I found it one of the most interesting of all the stories. I don't know why, maybe because it was the most dramatic thing happening in the whole book.
I love Charlie. I know he's supposed to be a jerk and an idiot and a horrible person but I really love him. I love the two sides of him he has around his sister, and then Astrid. His and Astrid's relationship was brilliant, in my opinion, and I loved the way neither ever seemed to trust the other one. He was just a really engaging character in the story that I felt was just perfect for the pace and plot line.
Darius I'm still undecided about.
Thom I'm confused about.
Grady I liked until the end.

You very rarely get a book that starts to decrease in pace. I'm sad to say that at the beginning of this book, I was literally hanging on every word because I loved it so much. But then it started to slow down, and did so so much that I was just left only reading small amounts at a time because it couldn't hold my attention longer.
Don't get me wrong, I definitely did enjoy it and I'll be recommending it a lot, I just felt that not a lot happened after the first 200 or so pages.

It was all very depressing at the end, I felt. Although there were quite a few silver linings, I felt the abundance of distress and betrayal and all that was a little overwhelming for what had been, up to then, a reasonably 'feel-good' book. It did pick up in the last chapter, which was good, and I really want to know what happens to them all next (especially Charlie and Astrid), so I probably will read the next book.

I would recommend Bright Young Things to anyone who likes historical fiction and romance primarily. Having said that, even though I'm not a huge enthusiast of romance, I still liked this book quite a lot. It's quite an easy read, although sometimes you may find it a little too easy. Overall, it's just a really nice read - perfect for something light for the summer.

Image Source: http://www.karenkincy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/brightyoungthings1.jpg