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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Wednesday 23 October 2013

Siege and Storm



Book Title: Siege and Storm
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Series: The Grisha #2
Date Started: October 20th 2013
Date Completed: October 23rd 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance, Action
Rating: Four stars
Review:

I was very excited for this book. I absolutely loved Shadow and Bone, and so I was really eager to see how the story continued. Overall, I don't think it was quite as epic as the first book, mainly because there didn't seem to be a strong objective for the story. However, having said that, it didn't stop me from loving it anyway. The last book is going to make me speechless, I can already tell.


After Alina and Mal escaped the Darkling, they've been on the run from town to town, hiding in plain sight and waiting for their next chance to leave. But sometimes running just isn't enough, and it's not long before the Darkling catches up to them. But when the enemy's ship starts to show evidence of helping Alina and Mal, things start to become confusing when a disguised prince declares himself and the Sun Summoner is carted off to the capital to save Ravka. But it seems the people's expectations of Alina is a little too much for her to handle. Not that she has much of a choice: she has to help them, or their whole - and her own - will fall to the Darkling. And then it can never rise again.

I have to admit, nothing particularly stuck out in the writing to me. That seems to be happening a lot lately, so I'm tempted to say that maybe it isn't because of this writing style, it might just be me. But, that said, nothing bad sticks out to me either. It's a lot better than the majority of Young Adult fiction out there, if I'm brutally honest.
I think the action is told wonderfully - action mainly including Alina's powers (unfortunately this isn't one of my review of physical kick-ass books - although I would love to see that in this series). The imagery was great, and then the general description was really interesting to read as well. Romance was great, and the arguments that took place were so realistic. I don't think I've ever read a fantasy book that has been able to portray a believable relationship between two people: tiny little things were argued about, but they were things that you could imagine would annoy someone, even though we might not be able to relate to them because we aren't the powerful equivalents of witches.
Finally, Alina's narration. It took me a minute to remember that the book is actually told from a 1st person perspective; it feels so much like the 3rd person. For me, that's a good thing. I prefer books told in the 3rd person, because they're less likely to be overwhelmed by someone's own opinions. However, the point of writing in 1st person is so that opinions come through - and eventually you get to know the narrator through the personality they have in the writing. A let down for me is that this doesn't really happen with Alina; she feels quite disconnected with her narrative and personality.

Right. I said up in the introduction that one of the big let downs for me was the fact there wasn't really a storyline. That's true and it isn't. I felt there wasn't a strict storyline that kept the reader stuck to find out how it was going to be resolved. But, despite this, I was still stuck to the page and a awful lot did happen. In a way, I think it's great, because it breaks out of the normal constraints of fictional writing: typically there will be the start of the book, and then something will happen that will create an ultimate ending goal (e.g. the characters find themselves plunged into war and we want to know how they survive at the end). But Seige and Storm (and I remember this coming out a little in Shadow and Bone) don't stick to that.
The action begins almost straight away and then things start to fall over each other one after another. This is great in keeping the reader's attention, since they literally have no idea what's going to happen next. However, my only problem with this is that I think it's really important to prove that your story is going to get somewhere within a book. This novel definitely did get somewhere, but I have a feeling it wouldn't be quite enough for some people.
One other thing I have to mention is the amazing mythology Bardugo has created for her world. I would be very interested in buying a collection of her 'fairytales' from Ravka. I wouldn't mind living there either.

I really, really liked the characters in the first book. I think I fell a little harder for them this time.
Alina is a great protagonist, and frankly, the development she went through in this book staggered me. At the beginning she's very similar to how she acts in the first book, and I liked that. It was familiar and safe. But then everything starts happening and she starts to change, and then by the end you have to stop yourself (there was literally a specific line for me) and think just how much she's grown up. And she grew up in a good way, and she grew up in a bad way. Obviously, a person needs to adapt to survive, and that's what Alina does - but while doing that she loses some part of herself along the way. And this is what would happen in real life. And the fact it's done so bluntly really emphasises the affect.
I've fallen in love with Mal, I swear. I really liked him the first time around, but now he's my favourite character. There's something so blindingly simple about him, I just can't resist it. Really, I should be criticising that fact, since it isn't that realistic, but for some reason it works really well, and he still manages to be the hero. (Another thing I like, Mal's regarded as the 'hero', not Alina. Just another little snippet I found interesting and hope is elaborated on in the next book.)
Sturmhond. You know I'm not sure what to think about him. At first, I was very wary of him, and I think I grew to like him, just like the characters. Then he annoyed me so much because he crossed a line that shouldn't be crossed and it wasn't really mentioned again and that annoyed me. But then he started to disappear towards the end and now I"m really unsure. I definitely don't dislike him. I'm just not sure whether I actually like him yet or not.
Tamar and Tolya were great. They faded into the background a little bit for me, unfortunately, and I really wish some of the book's chapters had included Alina getting to know them, since it felt like she trusted them more than her actions implied. And also, I just generally like them.
Finally, The Darkling. He was in the book much less than I had expected, which is both good and bad. I liked it when he was included because he still held that threat and the way Alina acted around him was very different from what I'm used to protagonists doing around the antagonists of stories. However, there are some things I wish had been resolved, because they haven't been answered, and I don't think they will be.

Like I mentioned earlier, the pace was very good. There was always something happening, although it wasn't always vital to the plot. Something I did find a little irritating was the fact that there were quite long passages of writing that didn't really contribute to the overall story. This isn't necessarily bad, but I just think with such a complex and epic trilogy, there must have been something else to add to the main plot.

I would recommend Seige and Storm to anyone who loves fantasy. There's a quote from Stylist Magazine on the top of my copy, stating that the series is 'The Hunger Games meets Potter meets Twilight meets Lord of the Rings meets Game of Thrones,' and I couldn't agree more. If you're just getting into hardcore fantasy, start with this series, it's amazing. There's also some great, realistic romance in there that's still enjoyable, and of course the magic and action is executed perfectly. Definitely on my most recommended list.
(But, you should read Shadow and Bone first, otherwise things could get confusing, and you'll also spoil a lot if you decide to go back to the first book.)

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Saturday 19 October 2013

Clockwork Princess



Book Title: Clockwork Princess
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Infernal Devices #3
Date Started: October 16th 2013
Date Completed: October 19th 2013
Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Action, Historical, Thriller, Comedy
Rating: Four stars
Review:


The Infernal Devices hadn't really caught my attention as much as the Mortal Instruments for quite a lot of reasons, and so I wasn't expecting Clockwork Princess to be amazing. However, I do think that actually it was the best in the trilogy and it did tie everything off nicely, ready for the following series.

Clockwork Princess concludes Tessa, Will and Jem's battle with the Magister. With Jem and Tessa due to be married, and the horrors of the past few months behind the curtain, everything seems quiet for the time being. But with the new arrival of not only Will's sister, but Gabriel Lightwood too, tensions in the Institute are rising, and the threat of Charlotte's banishment as its carer is becoming more real every day. As things start to pile up on the Shadowhunters, it seems that there's even less of a chance any of them are going to come out alive.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but I'm pretty sure there's a difference between Clare's writing in her Mortal Instruments series, and in this trilogy; it just feels like there's something missing here. Perhaps because I'm closer to the characters in her other series, I'm able to connect with the writing more, I don't know. I just feel like there's an enthusiasm in City of Bones, and the following books, that isn't as present in the Infernal Devices.
On the other hand, there's nothing wrong with the writing; the action is still told very well, and the detail and description is at an amount where its interesting and adds to the story, but not boring and distracting from the story. One thing that definitely is the same as her debut series is the gradual splitting of her story lines. Clare always manages to start with one story in her first book of a series, and then be able to span it into five or six or even more by the final instalment. These changes of perspective don't only give us more stories, but also give a more 3D impression of what is going on in the plot, and helps us to understand why everything is spiralling out of control when it does.
The last thing I want to mention about the writing, was the demonstration of parabatai. I've always loved the concept of two warriors connected so completely that it's as if they were brothers - but for whatever reason I never really understood just how much it meant in the Mortal Instruments (perhaps because Jace and Alec actually are technically 'brothers'). But in this trilogy, it really became clear to me just how significant an idea it is. There really was a link between Jem and Will that I've never really seen in a story before, and it benefitted the plot so well, and stopped it from becoming unrealistic (involving the romance side of things).

The story was alright. I think it's the story where Clare falls down a little in her Infernal Devices series. I love reading about the ancestors of her other characters, and a lot of the time the battles and general events that happen aren't that predictable and are genuinely interesting. However those tend to be the smaller, extra details on the side. The main plot, for me, is a bit lacking. This is mainly because it relies on a villain who I don't feel at all threatened by. You need a scary villain to make the reader get scared for the characters in the book, and want them to win rather than the evil person. But I felt like there just wasn't enough of a connection between the Magister and the main characters that made me scared of what he would do to them, I'm afraid.
I think I'll get my negatives out of the way before I go onto the really good scenes. Another thing I wasn't huge on in the story were the letters; the ones between Charlotte and the Consul and then the Clave. I expected them to go somewhere, but they kind of just disappeared into the story and weren't really talked about after a certain point. Maybe I missed some of the details surrounding that, I'm not sure.
Furthermore, Clare can't let her favourite characters die. It's something that always annoys me with books, partly because I can't tell how much I like a character until they die or get seriously - and I mean seriously - hurt (for example, I can usually only tell if I really care about a character if I get sad when they die). To be honest, Clare didn't do what most authors do, and pretend to kill of a character and then bring them back without any valid reason - so just because they couldn't handle their favourite character being dead. (If you've read the book, you'll know the obvious exception to this, but I feel like actually the reason and plot behind that particular resurrection.)
Finally, the last negative I have to say about the actual story is the fact that I was very tired of the Jem, Tessa, Will love triangle by the end. I remember not being too fond of it in the first and second books, as well. I'm not sure why I grew bored of it, but even a few chapters in, I was practically skim-reading their chapters. I think the soppy love declarations every third sentence got on my nerves a little, especially since I don't feel that much chemistry between the characters.
Okay, now that I've got my bad points out of the way, I can talk about the good things (or as much as possible without giving away any spoilers). I absolutely loved the battle. It was prolonged just as much as it needed to be, and there was loads of good action happening during it. In addition, the gradual movement of what happened impressed me, since a lot of authors tend to get ahead of themselves and want all the action and drama to happen straight away and have the actual fight over very quickly. Clare took her time, and allowed everything to play out individually.
I also want to mention the tiny section at the end of the last chapter, just before the epilogue. I will say now that my favourite character is Cecily, and I completely ship her and Gabriel. Therefore, that last little segment where the Herondale siblings visit their parents again was just lovely. It was funny and it was touching and it was great.
And then the epilogue. I liked the way it skipped to 2008, and I love the little differences in Tessa's behaviour in the modern era. I also loved the little recollection of Will's final hours. It was very touching, though I admit I spent most of it working out whose children would go on to have the heroes from the Mortal Instruments' parents. But, the most surprising thing is that I was actually content with the happy ending Clockwork Princess finished with. I don't usually get on with happy endings, because I don't believe that stories end so nicely and quickly - but I suppose knowing that their descendants go on to have many dramas in New York made me a little more open to a pleasant finish for this lot.

It took me a while to connect with these characters, but they have eventually grown on me. I'm not as in love with them as I have been with other characters before, but I do still really like them.
Tessa did annoy me a little, but by the ending of the book I had grown used to her again and was happy that she was happy for the most part. I do wish she had become a little less girly after three books with her being trained as a Shadowhunter, but I do have to remind myself that girls can be non-kick-ass if they want to be, and it worked perfectly well in the book.
I love Jem, but I do think he became a little too repetitive in this book. I do love the way his situation is portrayed, and how he and everyone reacts to it, although I did get a little tired of him saying he'd like to give up again and again and again. Although he did become a lot better around halfway through the book where he started being practical and realistic.
Will has changed, and changed for the better. I remember him being Jace in the first book (not like Jace - actually Jace, I swear) but he has definitely changed from that moody type. I think his development has been brilliant since it has been slow, and clearly had an affect on the characters around him. Furthermore, his character, by the end, really was a hero, rather than perhaps wanting to be one in the earlier books.
Cecily is my new favourite character. I love her relationship with Will, and in a way I wish she had been in more of the previous books, because I would have liked to see her build up relationships with some of the other Shadowhunters. However, the fact that she starred only in this novel did make me like her more and give me less chance to get bored of her. I was very happy to work out that she wears (slight spoiler ahead) Isabelle's necklace for a lot of the book and then goes on to be hers, Alec and Max's great great great great...great? grandmother. I also completely ship her and Gabriel. They had a very nice progression of their relationship and I always looked forward to their little segments most in the chapters.
Charlotte and Henry are adorable. I love Henry, and I wish people would accept him more. He's a genius - I mean, come on, he invented the Portal! Charlotte is also lovely and a great head of the Institute. I would have liked to know what happened to her kids.
Gabriel and Gideon were great. I've already said how I love Gabriel and Cecily, and, though I'm not quite as excited about Gideon and Sophie, I do still think they're sweet. Again, I expected their plot line to go a little further than it did, but their characters were still greatly involved after their singular story finished.
I liked Jessamine's final little inclusion and that's all I really have to say about her.
Magnus was great as always, and I believed his friendship with Tessa and I loved hearing about how he had shown Tessa New York and I could just picture him taking her to all the places in the Mortal Instruments. I'm very glad Clare wrote him into this story, because I've grown to love him even more. (Although it is slightly weird thinking about the fact that Magnus lived with and helped his future boyfriend's ancestors...it's just a weird thought.)

The pace of the book was nice and consistent, and the fights were evenly spaced throughout the story. The only issue I had with pacing was the fact that the Tessa/Will/Jem chapters were a lot longer than any of the others, and I've already said that that plot wasn't really my favourite of all the stories - however I didn't hate reading these chapters, I just wish it had swapped around a little bit more.

Clockwork Princess was a very good ending to The Infernal Devices, and I enjoyed it more than the rest of the series. You should definitely read the trilogy if you're a fan of Clare's writing, or if you want to try some historical, romantic paranormal novel. But you absolutely have to read the previous books first - but they get better as they go along, promise!

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Wednesday 9 October 2013

Antigoddess



Book Title: Antigoddess
Author: Kendare Blake
Series: The Goddess War #1
Date Started: October 4th 2013
Date Completed: October 8th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Thriller, Adventure, Action
Rating: Four stars
Review:

I love Blake's work, and even though I wasn't certain what to expect from Antigoddess, I knew I'd really enjoy it; and I wasn't wrong. This novel was a really enjoyable read and actually very well thought-through and planned, if slumping into slightly immature phrases at times. Nevertheless, I thought the book was great, and bordering on better than Anna Dressed in Blood (Blake's debut novel).


Aiden was a god. But then the gods fell and now they're dying. So Aiden hid, until he found her: the girl he loved; the girl he cursed thousands of years ago; the girl who was reincarnated as Cassandra, and who is other gods are now hunting down for her powers. But Cassandra isn't even aware of the abilities he gave her all those years ago, and Aidan has to think of a way to save her the truth, but get her away from the fearsome deities on her trail.

I think Blake's writing has grown since Anna, it was a lot more detailed and informative in this book. Although that probably has something to do with the research that must have gone in to make the story so consistent, there are elements, such as the internal monologues and the reactions that the characters have, that proves that through writing her first two novels, Kendare Blake has learnt a lot. That's not to say she wasn't good at the start, she's just gotten even better.
After that rather long paragraph about Kendare's progress in writing, I'll also mention that the action would written very smoothly and vividly, and the relationships between the characters were believable to me.

It's very clear to me that a huge amount of research went into this novel. I was raised up on greek and egyptian mythology, among other things, so I was vaguely aware of the stories of the gods before reading this book. It was almost nostalgic, connecting my childhood memories with the things mentioned in the book. Continuing on, I thought it was presented very well; you often get books that have a take on previously told stories that just don't do it justice. This, however, did. Even more than that, it modernised the gods in a way I haven't really seen before, so that was especially engaging for me to read.
My favourite scene would by far be the woods scene. (If you haven't read the book, what I'm about to say won't make a whole lot of sense to you, but I'll try and describe it as well as I can without giving away any spoilers.) The thing I loved about this scene was that it wasn't predictable, and the tension rose extremely quickly within. I know from experience that it's a hard thing to write suspense without it getting too out of hand. But Blake pulled it off very well and also managed to create a scene that pulled on the heartstrings.
The climax scene was awesome. If I could change one thing, I'd split it up to make it seem like the character were safe before everything crashes down around them, rather than have it on a continuous line. However, it was very well written and I really felt for the characters as they went through it. There was a tangible danger and each person/god's reaction was realistic and set off everything else like a chain reaction.
The ending scene left me wanting more, and wanting a happy ending for once. That is all I will say.

I really liked the characters, but sometimes I felt they fell out of their personalities a bit. I have a feeling this was to show certain parts of the story as particularly scary, but I didn't quite connect with that.
Having said that, I really got on with Cassandra. I felt sometimes she was a little bit too un-assertive, but I then understood why she acted that way when she (slightly spoiler ahead) turned into the other Cassandra. Although, I did really like the little similarities, as well as the contrasts, between her two selves. You could really believe they were the same person, but from different times and with mixed experiences.
I love Aidan, and I think his romance with Cassandra was really cute. (I can see a lot of Cas from Anna in Aidan's character.) I liked his protective nature, but also the fact that he knew when to step back and to not show his girlfriend up as being incapable without him. I also liked the way he clearly linked in with siblings and you could see the relation between them.
Athena annoyed me at first. But I think the reader is supposed to. Then I found myself gradually feeling more and more for her as a character; I genuinely believed her when she messed up and her complaints and feelings were all understandable. She was probably the most realistic of the characters and I'm glad Blake included it; it's very important in a fantasy novel to give the reader something they understand and can relate to - just to make sure it doesn't come a completely distant work of fiction.
Hermes and Odysseus were very good characters, but I felt they added to Athena's character, rather than becoming their own entities. There were times when I really thought each of them were the hero, but this only happened a couple of times, and then they blended into the background again.
Henry and Andie were really sweet. Henry was a great brotherly figure and Andie was a good friend, but I didn't get the feeling Cassie cared about her quite as much as Andie cared about her. I liked their little backstory as well.

The pace was generally good for the overall story, but there was a big issue with chapter lengths. I got the short end of the stick and became more involved with Cassandra and Aidan than I did with Athena and Hermes, so this annoyed me especially. The chapter lengths differed greatly. The Cassandra and Aidan chapters tended to be reasonably short, whereas the chapters for Hermes and Athena were ridiculously long. I understand that the gods' story had a little further to go before they joined with the other characters, but I think the chapters could have been more split up, especially since the other side of the story was shown in such short snippets.
On the other hand, it did flow very well, despite favouring one side over the other, and there weren't any points where nothing was happening.

I would recommend Antigoddess to anyone who likes their mythology. I really liked the new takes on the stories and it was just as informing as it was enjoyable. There's also some cute romance, and good tense scenes, with action and drama thrown in for good measure as well.

Image Source: http://www.dateabook.com.au/assets/img/hotdates/9781408330753.jpg

Friday 4 October 2013

The Book of Dead Days



Book Title: The Book of Dead Days
Author: Marcus Sedgwick
Series: The Book of Dead Days #1
Date Started: October 1st 2013
Date Completed: October 4th 2013
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
Rating: Four stars
Review:

What I was expecting from this book wasn't really what I got. That's sounds quite negative, but in a lot of ways it isn't. I did really enjoy this book, I was just a bit surprised when it wasn't quite what I thought it would be.


Boy is an orphan with no memory of his life before he was picked up by Valerian. Now he works for the magician, helping him trick his audience into the various illusions of his creation. But with his master's growing impatience and distraction, Boy can tell there's something wrong. Then Willow, another orphan assistant of one of the performers at the theatre, bumps into him in the street, babbling about a murder and immediately Boy is thrown into a situation he doesn't understand. His master's life will end in three days: on December 31st - unless they find the Book of Dead Days.

The writing was the first thing to hit me as something I hadn't anticipated. Before I make it sound like the book was written badly, let me tell you the good things: the little romance in it was lovely and really sweet. The adventure side was great and even the little bit of fantasy and mystery (which did get a little bit mixed up, I think) was really engaging. The writing was fine.
What I was going to say was that I was just expecting something a little more sophisticated. I don't know what gave me the impression of the book being a Young Adult/Adult fiction book, but that's what I had, and unfortunately that's what took the quality down a few pegs. (It's like watching the new Doctor Who when you used to watch the old series' - it's actually not that bad, but you can't really compare it to the good old stuff.)

The story was nice. That's the best word I can think of to describe it. It was like the stories I used to read when I was younger: two children getting taken 'under the wing' of an adult and going on a mysterious adventure with him to find something or other to save someone or the world or whatever. So, from a nostalgic point of view, it was lovely.
However, when I started reading this book I did expect it to be fairly complex. Therefore, when I realised it was a nice little story like the ones I read years ago, I was quite disappointed. Looking back on it, there's very little wrong with this story: it's perfectly good and the things that happen are believable enough and work well with the story. It's a shame that, because of the expectations I had already built up in my mind before reading, I wasn't as happy with the result as I could have been. (Just to clarify this is in no way a fault of the author or quality of this book. I do genuinely think it's a very good book - I'm just pointing out that it wasn't what the blurb led me to believe.)
The biggest issue I have with this novel's story is that fact that there's loads of loose ends left when the book finishes. I understand that sometimes part of the plot are left in shadow, so as to give the reader something to look forward to in the next book, but who killed so-and-so (sorry, spoiler) is not something that's going to be necessary in the next book because it's not going to relate to that plot at all. So why wasn't it explained here?
I also would have liked to see a little bit more of the City. It's mentioned a few times about being mysterious and falling into disrepair - I just wish there was more time to look into that. (Although, it had been hinted that that sort of thing is gone into more detail in the second book.)

The characters were good, and the fact that there were only really three (four near the end) made it easier for us to get to know each character more. Having said that, I still think a lot of development was missed out on.
I love Boy. He's sweet, and actually a reasonably good protagonist considering he does basically nothing except get ordered around by Valerian. Willow really took charge of being the assertive one, and I felt Boy just kind of did as he was told. Fortunately, Willow did rub off on him a little more, but he was still quite...not useless but...for want of a better word: useless. Don't get me wrong, he's adorable, I just wish he was more involved in changing the plot.
Willow was my favourite character because she was clearly the most intelligent out of the characters - all of which were boys (apart from her obviously). I usually say this, but the fact that she wasn't forcing this showed that she didn't feel she had to prove herself as being worth something, she knew she had that right and took it. I also loved the way Valerian wasn't as harsh to her as he was to Boy. I wish this had been gone into a little bit more since I think it would have made us feel more for Valerian. The one problem I had with Willow was the fact that I was constantly waiting for her to be more feisty, rather than just defiant and clever.
Valerian shaped the story, and he was really what the story was all about: helping him live. I did like his character because it was very conflicted and at times you could really see him fighting with his better judgement and his instincts. With his change of heart (twice) at the end, I felt they were a little too quick; I would expect someone to either slowly get more desperate before that event, or to hesitate - rather than just make a snap decision which turned them into a completely different character.
Kepler, really was the hero. Something I'm not sure is fair considering he only appears in the last forty or so pages of the book. It also confused me as to how he was portrayed as mad, but didn't really come through as that (that might have been deliberate, but if so I don't think the contrasts were emphasised enough.)

The pace wasn't too bad, actually. I think, as I was going through it, that it was a bit confusing how the progression was, since there wasn't really a smooth storyline; the characters just went to one place, hit a dead end, went to another, hit another dead end etc. But there wasn't a time when I got bored of this, strangely enough. I think there was enough variety to let me find something new and interesting in each situation and keep going.
It's also quite a short book. In some ways this is good, because the storyline wasn't allowed to get too repetitive. On the other hand, there are many areas I wish had been given more detail and had been gone into a bit more. Maybe this will happen in the sequel, maybe it won't - but that's what I'm hoping for, at least.

I would recommend The Book of Dead Days to anyone who loves good-old adventure stories. There's also some really sweet romance in there, and a bit of mystery and fantasy mixed up. I really enjoyed it (despite what it might seem like in my review), but I have to say it was a little less mature than I expected it to be. This book is definitely great to read, but don't expect a deep and complex plot, because you'll be disappointed.

Image Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5f/
The_Book_of_Dead_Days_cover.jpg

Tuesday 1 October 2013

How I Live Now



Book Title: How I Live Now
Author: Meg Rosoff
Date Started: September 29th 2013
Date Completed: September 30th 2013
Genres: Dystopian, Romance, Adventure, Thriller
Rating: Five stars
Review:

The reviews on the back of my edition of this book were exactly right for me. Our protagonist could indeed 'persuade me to believe almost anything' after five pages (Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time). And, believe it or not 'I put it down with tears on my face' (Julie Myerson, Guardian).


Daisy wants as little to do with her father and new girlfriend as they seem to want to do with her. So when she's sent to England on a 'holiday' she isn't entirely dreading it, but she doesn't particularly want to go either. But it turns out that her cousins are a lot better than she expected, and definitely better than her step-mother and soon-to-be-little-sister. And then the bomb goes off in the middle of London, and Daisy and her cousins end up stranded in the middle of the English countryside on their own. Not that that's a bad thing. At first. And then the soldiers come and it seems Daisy and the others aren't allowed to look after themselves as they had done so well before, and soon it seems not only is the war stomping into their home and using their land, but also splitting them apart in the most brutal way possible.

The writing confused me. Not because it was badly written - on the contrary, I absolutely loved the style and I found it quick to get through, but also detailed enough for me to read between the lines as I went and really understand some of the unsaid things in the story. But the reason why I was confused was the fact that, in theory, I should hate the way it's written. There's hardly any punctuation (with speech being included without speech marks, and only commas etc) and important words/phrases are set out with capital letters. I usually hate this kind of thing, because I find it unprofessional or perhaps a little childish, but actually it worked so well for the story, I fell right into it so quickly that I didn't even notice it for a long time. I felt that this was a way to show us how childish and innocent Daisy actually was at the start of the book, and the development of this writing as the book progressed also showed Daisy's progression as a child to an adult.
I also loved the brutal honesty that was included in the narrative. Part of the reason I felt I could connect with Daisy so well was the fact that she was very open about the fact that she did have issues, and it wasn't even hinted that she was completely aware why they were there. Having gone through similar things myself, I know that there is that kind of confusion behind the thoughts, and therefore there's an almost hidden anxiety to mention such things. This was really well put across by Rosoff, and I think it really brought her protagonist to life.

The story (and the characters) was what really worked for me. I've read a lot of dystopian/war fiction, and I'm starting to read a lot of contemporary stuff too, but so far I haven't come across something quite like this. I'm not even sure you would categorise How I Live Now as contemporary, but it was so realistic to me, I felt it should be put into that genre. I believed everything that was happening and I believed everything each of the characters felt along the way.
The different twists and turns this book went down were amazing. So much happened in a very small book, and you could feel the time passing with them, rather than feeling disconnected from the characters for however many months before rejoining them again.
The ending was not was I expected, and if you read my reviews you'll know I very rarely cry at books - but I cried here. It's definitely a bitter sweet ending, and I think it was actually more painful than some other alternatives could have been, but I truly think it was worth it for the pure quality and feeling it left me with. It was heartbreaking, but it was real, and it tied up the loose ends so well. There was a sense of completion, but also a reluctance to do so; I felt so close to the characters that I didn't want to leave them when their story ended.

There's only really two characters that are around for the majority of the book: Daisy and Piper. Yet we learn so much about the rest of them as well, I feel like they're all really important characters, each giving their own detail to the story.
Daisy was amazing. Truly amazing. I've rarely connected with characters as well as I connected with Daisy. She was very blunt, honest, rude and funny. There was a kind of nature around her that made me think of a lot of people I know: the 'carefree' attitude that brushes each little thing off when they are thinking about them inside. I can't really say more about her because I don't know how. My advice: read the book.
Piper actually agitated me at first: not annoyed, but agitated. She was too perfect and too innocent. But then I realised that was the point, and that she needed to be that pure in order to really show her change as she lived through the war with Daisy. I also liked the fact that, although Daisy was looking after her a lot of the time, she was also looking up to her, and almost cowering in her friends' shadow.
Edmond was great. The way his story developed was both heartbreaking and genius. I connected with him almost as much as Daisy, which made it harder for me as a reader later on. Considering he was in it for quite a short time, I felt I grew to know him incredibly well and I really felt the chemistry between him and Daisy - whether they're cousins or not.
I liked Isaac because he was like the odd one out; he never quite fitted in and he always was aware of things going on around him. I didn't really feel the twin connection between him and Edmond, but I don't think that mattered so much, since all four of the siblings were very close to begin with.
I expected Osbert to be in more; or at least for him to be mentioned more. If I were his sister, I'd be very annoyed with him for leaving his younger siblings to pretty much fend for themselves in a war stricken country. Maybe I missed a little bit more of his reason to leave because I was caught up in the rest of the story, but I still would have been pretty annoyed either way.

Overall, the pace was really good for me. It's a fairly short book and, to go through everything we did go through with the characters, everything had to be given to us pretty quickly and close together. Maybe sometimes it did feel rushed, but in a way that worked because it gave us an idea of how everything merged together for the characters and let us understand how confusing it was for them a little bit more than we might have otherwise.
There was one slow part that I feel I have to mention: about three quarters of the way in, when Daisy and Piper are in the woods, all that is talked about for around three or four chapters is the food they ate and how they had to spent all their time doing it to survive. I do appreciate that they had to spend all their time finding the right food so they could eat safely, but really long descriptions of it did get a little bit old at one point. Luckily, this didn't last very long, and we were back to the action in good time for the finale.

I absolutely loved How I Live Now. I was eager to read it at first, and then I fell right into the story straight away, and I didn't want to put it down the entire time I was reading it. I think it's a great book that's not only engaging to read, but also quite informative and insightful to how real people feel in scarily real situations.
It's a contemporary dystopian that's got a wonderful romance in it, and a whole lot of other stuff in between. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes the sound of any of that - and I know it's better than the film's going to be (because I can already tell they're going to change it a ridiculous amount).

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