Sunday 27 July 2014

Everything Leads to You

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Book Title: Everything Leads to You
Author: Nina LaCour
Date Started: July 23rd 2014
Date Completed: July 27th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Mystery
Rating: Four stars
Review:


I was really excited to pick Everything Leads to You up, and though it was pretty much what I expected, it didn't blow me away. Having said that, I did really enjoy the story and it's a different sort of story to what's already out there.


Emi's brother is leaving for Europe, and his one condition to giving her and her best friend the apartment for the summer is that something amazing has to happen there. But with Emi's internship as a set designer being overruled all the time, and her ex-grilfriend hovering around, it seems like the summer isn't going to be as amazing as her brother had in mind. But when she finds a letter from a deceased superstar, it leads her on a mystery that could fulfil her brother's expectations.

I really liked LaCour's writing style. At first glance there isn't anything that immediately jumps out as amazing, but as you start to read, the flow of the words and dialogue makes it really easy to get lost in the story. Furthermore, you can tell the author knows what she's talking about, because the descriptions and explanations of the set design and the filmmaking process are so well written it perfectly captures the development in creating the atmosphere you'd expect. (I especially loved the references to 'the collapse of fantasy' and 'the love', since both are things I understand and encounter on a daily basis just through my ambition to be involved in filmmaking.)

Although the typical romantic contemporary storyline didn't really interest me very much, the reason I enjoyed this book so well was the other twists that many other novels in the genre don't offer. The first thing that I really liked about this plot was that the main mystery isn't about the main character. Instead, we're shown this outsider view of a puzzle that the characters have to work out. I thought this was a nice idea and came across really well since it allowed the book to have other important parts that then didn't conflict together.
Secondly, and definitely my favourite thing about this book, was the film elements. I was originally drawn to this book because of my interest in the film industry and filmmaking, and the inclusion of Emi's job as a set designer offered a new and interesting part of film I've never really thought too much about before. This was really the thing that kept me engaged where most contemporary novels would lose me.
Finally, the ending to the story was nice. The whole book was fairly predictable from the start, but the little diversions of each part of the story ended up working together to draw everything nicely to a close at the last page.

All the characters in Everything Leads to You are really nice. I loved the little friendship group, but all the other people the characters meet along the way are lovely. This was a little bit unrealistic to be honest, but I can't complain really.
I really liked Emi as the protagonist, though at times she did get on my nerves. It was really refreshing to have a confident lesbian character in Young Adult fiction for once, and I loved the way it wasn't used as an enormous plot point; it was just a part of who she was. My only issue was that she wasn't very practical some of the time, but that did make her more realistic.
My favourite character was Charlotte, and she is literally the best friend anyone could have. I feel like she actually ended up spending a lot of her time helping her friends when she didn't really get anything back. But she was fine with that, because they were her friends, and she was prepared to help them. I also really connected to the organised, but still kind of stressed side to her when it came to the filmmaking. I can really relate to that.
And finally, Ava. Ava was probably the most realistic character to me, because my opinion kept changing about her as we learnt more about her past, and then how she acted in different situations. I'm still not sure whether I like her or not, but I think the point is that she's going through a hard time, so she does act in differently at times, but that's what makes her work well with Emi.

There was a really nice, steady pace throughout the whole book. It's not a particularly fast story, and each event is small, but adds up to the whole thing.

I'd recommend Everything Leads to You to anyone who enjoys contemporary, and also to anyone who's interested in the filming industry. There's a really nice balance between the romantic side, the mystery elements, and the filmmaking process, so if one thing doesn't sit that well with you, there's something else to back up the story.

Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/
show/18667779-everything-leads-to-you

Tuesday 22 July 2014

We Were Liars

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Book Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Date Started: July 21st 2014
Date Completed: July 22nd 2014
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Mystery
Rating: Four stars
Review:


I was really impressed by We Were Liars. As many people say, it's good to go into this story knowing little about the plot. I agree, but wish I had known the general background, since I was a little irritated to find yet another teenage star-crossed romance thrown into the mix. But as I read on, I was gradually won over, and now I'm happy to say this very clever novel is one of my favourites.


Candence has terrible migraines and trouble remembering things since the accident. But she wants to go back to the island this holiday. It will make things better. Or it will make them worse.

I really liked Lockhart's writing. I sometimes have trouble with the stream-of-consciousness style, as I think it can sometimes drag on and make the story too one-sided. But in this instance, that effect was purposefully included and made the connection with the reader and characters far stronger.
Furthermore, the portrayal of teenage thoughts and illness through this was very well done in my opinion. You could tell that Candence was a teenager within a short amount of time, but there's always a nagging at the back of your mind where you can spot little things that aren't quite right, and push her away from the crowd.

My one big problem in the plot was the love story. Like I said, I didn't want to know too much going into this book about what happens, but as soon as hints were dropped about the romance I sighed. I'm fine with soppy, pining teenage romances being out there, but I just don't want to read about them. This was what put me off the book at the beginning.
However, as the book continued I realised that, thankfully, there was a lot more to the story. In fact little things are dropped along for the whole book, and you have to pick them up and start to draw them together the further you get. The time jumps were a big part of this, and the differences between each one were amazingly orchestrated.
I did manage to see the end coming, but admittedly quite close to it happening. It wasn't as shocking as I'd first expected, but it fitted into the lives of the characters, and the book as a whole, perfectly.

The characters in this book are very dislikable. That was another big problem I had to start with, because I found the people so aggravating: they pretended to be perfect when they were obviously very damaged people. But, yet again, as I kept reading, it was clear that one of the main points of the book is that though people may seem to be one way, they're not at all the same inside. Because of this, the characters ended up being really realistic, tragically so. And I connected with them very well in the end.

We Were Liars is a small book, and since the narrative is just one long and jumbled consciousness, it flows well between chapters and makes it very easy to loose yourself in the story. I read this book in two sittings, and only because I had to put the book down and sleep in between.

I highly recommend We Were Liars. Though I didn't like it at first, the point of the story is that things are gradually revealed and characters become more understandable and human. I think it's a very clever book and a great read - especially for summer. I'd suggest not knowing too much about it when going in, but possibly more than having no idea whatsoever. If you don't like gradual mysteries, contemporary and teenage romance that much, maybe check a few more reviews.


Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22255527-we-were-liars

Sunday 20 July 2014

The Book of Life

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Book Title: The Book of Life
Author: Deborah Harkness
Series: All Souls Trilogy #3
Date Started: July 15th 2014
Date Completed: July 20th 2014
Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Mystery
Rating: Four stars
Review:


The Book of Life was a satisfying end to the All Souls Trilogy, but I have to admit, I wasn't blown away. Though I really enjoyed delving back into Diana's world, I just wish it hadn't been so anchored to herself and Matthew. I really would have loved to see the other characters start to go their own ways, and also discover more of the world past the usual locations.


When Diana Bishop returns from the past, now welcomed into the de Clermont family, it seems trouble has followed her through the centuries and is now lurking back at Sept Tours. Still with two pages of The Book of Life to recover, and a pregnancy neither Diana nor Matthew are sure she'll survive, the new weaver must double her efforts to find the ancient book and uncover the secrets of the four species. But Matthew's rogue blood-rage-driven son has emerged, and now everyone in her world is threatened by what he plans.

I'm not sure whether it's the fact I've grown as a reader, or I've grown to miss the characters, or whether the book was written slightly differently, but I found the last instalment in this trilogy far less heavy than the previous books. I progressed through it quite quickly, and found the explanations made at least some kind of sense. (Though I still admit, while I did pick up the general gist, the genetics explanation for everything still went over my head.)
I also felt that the characters worked together a lot better than I remember. The layers and layers of relationships, though hard to keep track of, actually started to make sense in order to move the story along. Also, they were quite cute a lot of the time.

Most of my faults in this book were to do with the story. Admittedly, they were just little things, but they bugged me quite a bit throughout the novel, and stopped me from being blown away. The first thing is that not much happens in the whole book. Again, the All Souls Trilogy isn't designed for fast paced events and action, and the reasons for these slow parts were valid, but reading about the little mundane things didn't help winning me over.
The other little thing was that no one seemed surprised by the existence of other creatures. Though I like the nice change from the typical reaction, it wasn't really justified with anything: people were comfortable with there being other species among them and then it wasn't mentioned again. It just bothered me.
And then there was the big problem for me. I really do love all the male characters, and all the female ones. But I'm not convinced that these women were the strong, fierce characters they're referred to as. Whether this was because of their actual presentation, or just the abundance of male domination everywhere, I can't say.
When it came to the climax, I felt suddenly quite detached from the story. When I had finally become used to the slow, complex pacing of the first two thirds, events suddenly started happening everywhere in so quick a succession I hadn't entirely worked out what was going on before something new occurred. Because of this, it didn't really feel like a climax to me, hence not being blown away by this finale.

Though the story may have its faults, I have to say how I'm completely in love with all the characters. Though they're all a bit full of themselves, they do have their moments and I wouldn't mind being friends with a few of them, despite the vigorous mood swings.
I'm not exactly tired of Diana and Matthew, but I'm definitely more interested in the secondary characters. The protagonist couple just become a bit predictable before long, though they do work well together in the story.
On the other hand, Marcus and Phoebe are my life. My biggest issue with the whole thing was that there wasn't enough of them. Marcus has always been my favourite character since the beginning, and now that he has an equally amazing significant other, I honestly couldn't get enough of them. But put aside the fact that I'm biased, they had a really interesting dynamic that I wanted to learn more about, and each of them individually impacted the story in a new way.
I could write all night about which characters I love the most, and why they're so loveable, but instead I'll just mention a few because I couldn't write my last review for the series without them being included. Gallowglass expanded even more as a character and was just as lovely as the past books. I was so happy when Jack turned up, and I loved his relationship with Matthew especially. Ysabeau and Nathaniel were brilliant as always. And Chris and Miriam are quickly becoming two new favourites - and I was so happy to have some properly sarcastic characters.

The Book of Life definitely isn't a heart pounding ride, but it isn't that kind of book. Though the smaller things that I didn't really care about did get on my nerves a couple of times, the pacing wasn't a major issue, as the story is built on the thought-processes and intellect of the characters, rather than the rapid action scenes and fights.

I've really enjoyed the whole All Souls Trilogy, and would recommend it to anyone who likes urban fantasy romances. The is definitely an adult book, so don't go in expecting an easy read with non-mature content. You'll be very surprised. As always, start at the beginning, but I'm sure Diana and Matthew's story could be enjoyed by many.

Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21076207-the-book-of-life

Thursday 10 July 2014

The Messengers


Book Title: The Messengers
Author: Edward Hogan
Date Started: July 5th 2014
Date Completed: July 8th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary, Mystery
Rating: Four stars
Review:


I enjoyed The Messengers a lot more than I first expected. Though I was intrigued by the concept and interested in reading something a little different to my usual selection, I didn't think I'd fall in love with the characters and have a little bit of me broken inside by the end.


When Frances is sent down to the sea when her brother goes on the run and their mother needs some space, she expects a few months filled with awkward interactions with her cousin's friends. But then she bumps into a man with a postcard depicting a death she witnesses later, and he tells her she is like him. Before she knows it, Frances is given a terrible choice: deliver the message of death to the people she draws, or let someone close to her die instead.

I really liked the simple, but detailed style of Hogan's writing. There's a lovely flow to the words, and the dialogue fits in nicely with the narrative. The speech itself was realistic and humorous enough to make me smile at a times. But the best part was the communication of emotions. There's a specific part towards the end where Frances really loses her control, and at that point I felt so much for her and I empathised with the character, despite clearly not really knowing how it would feel in that position.

The plot for this novel is a nice break from the typical Young Adult story lines, and takes a great concept that I haven't really seen before and questions it as soon as the reader's been told it. I loved the fact that Frances was constantly trying to find ways around her gift, and then going on to follow them, because it's what I feel I'd probably do in her situation. There's so many stories out there where the protagonist complains about the situation they're in, but doesn't do anything about it. Frances takes the circumstances as they are, but won't let them stop her from trying to do the right thing.
My favourite part of the book were the relationships between our protagonist and the people around her. It’s fairly obvious that, while Frances isn’t particularly shy, she still doesn’t reveal everything about herself to the people she meets. I really enjoyed the way Frances was shown around the other people because it told us a lot about her and the type of people she trusts. I also loved the issues brought to light in this context, especially her brother’s actions and consequences. I’m always interested in the brother-sister bond, but Frances and Johnny were among my favourites.
The only issue I have with the plot of this book is the fact that everything new became a little too comfortable too quickly. Until towards the end, nothing ever seemed to fight back when Frances or Peter tried to change things. I would’ve liked it if something had gone seriously wrong near the beginning, and had then frightened Frances off or pushed her to work harder.
However, I can’t really complain after the ending. I loved the foreshadowing earlier in the book, but also it’s twist. You might predict what happens, but there’s something a little different thrown in to catch you off guard. Though I can’t explain why (no spoilers) the finishing climax was a perfect end to the book, and, while it broke me, I don’t think it could’ve ended with the required outcome otherwise.
(And then the very ending with Sam broke me even more - read it and you’ll understand.)

Though characters are one of the main driving plots for this book, I felt there were only really two that developed throughout the story. I did still love a lot of the minor characters, and thought their relationships primarily with Frances were well-orchestrated, but they were sidelined where further information could have deepened the plot.
I absolutely adore Frances' character. At the start of the book, I immediately loved her sarcastic, half-interested attitude. It told half of her story even before she started explaining it. I also loved the way she acted around the other characters (namely Max and Johnny), where she was affectionate, but still partly detached, like she didn't kept to herself mostly. As the story carried on, I feel more and more in love with Frances, and the progression of her emotions and actions made her such a realistic character.
I also really liked Peter's character. Aside from the interesting sub-plot of his controversial relationship with Frances, he himself was a person that developed a great deal throughout the story. He's a very different person by the last chapter than the first.

For me, this book was too short. I wanted so much more time to explore the concept and learn about the characters. Having said that, the length works well for the story: it lets things move along at a good pace and doesn't drag parts out.

I recommend The Messengers to anyone who likes contemporary reads with a twist or paranormal or fantasy in them. There's controversial issues, great climaxes and realistic characters. This is a great story with a unique concept that I found really enjoyable and interesting to read. I'm looking forward to reading Hogan's other works.

Image Source: http://www.walker.co.uk/walkerdam/
getimage.aspx?id=9781406337181-1&size=webuse

Saturday 5 July 2014

Shadow of the Wolf

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Book Title: Shadow of the Wolf
Author: Tim Hall
Series: Shadow of the Wolf #1
Date Started: July 2nd 2014
Date Completed: July 5th 2014
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Historical
Rating: Three stars
Review:


As a huge fan of the original Robin Hood story, I was excited to have finally found a new retelling with a bit of a twist. Though retellings are never as good as the story they're based on, some can be really entertaining and change the plot in really interesting ways. Shadow of the Wolf did that here, and I think it's a good read for fans of the original tale, though it does have its issues.


Robin Loxley was left in the forest when he was a child. With no warning whatsoever, he returns to find his family have abandoned him to live in a village of people who despise him. So one day he leaves, and he finds himself living deep in the forest with a miraculous girl who teaches him to read and makes constellations out of the stars. But when Marian is taken from him, Robin must find a way to train himself and find a way back to her. Whatever it takes.

Hall's writing is of a high quality. He has a wonderfully vivid writing style and a way of presenting characters in a subtle, mysterious way. I specifically enjoyed the parts where the characters themselves aren't entirely aware of what was happening around them, since this came through well in the narrative despite the third person perspective.

I liked the story well enough. It wasn't as predictable as I'd expected, which was a nice surprise. Furthermore, I loved the historical setting and the brief nods to the culture. I did, however, wish there had been more involvement of the medieval life, and I also want a lot more of the fantasy aspect throughout the whole thing, rather than the hundred pages in the middle. I felt this fantastical element was really well done, but seemed to completely vanish after its time in the spotlight: it seemed to have no lasting affect on Robin, and it was never mentioned again.
This was a big issue throughout the whole book, actually. I felt there were a lot of details that were never really explained properly or revisited after they were first mentioned, just because the plot moved on far too quickly. This also tied into the fact that, while reading, I knew parts I was going through were going to be important at some point, but it really didn't feel it at the time because nothing was built-up enough to be exciting and fully engaging during the actual reading. Looking back, I can think of some really good scenes. But I know that if I was to go back and read them, I'd fall into the dull half-paying-attention phase because it just wasn't catching me.

There are an awful lot of secondary characters in this book, and I found it really hard to tell them apart, let alone understand their motives, as none of them were given enough time to be explored or have any development.
Robin was a bit underwhelming as a protagonist. He didn't strike me as a particularly exceptional person, and the only driving feature that made him stand out was his shadiness, and utter devotion to a character I didn't really feel he had any chemistry to.
Marian herself, while being an awesome concept, was not a nice character. And while I'm completely for bad people as characters, Marian was horrible to the point where Robin should have left her a long time ago. This was disappointing, since she probably has the most development throughout the plot, and is likely the strongest character.

The pacing still confuses me. Whilst I couldn't put this book down, and ended up reading the whole thing in three or four chunks, the story could be really boring at times. The pace itself is extremely fast moving: we experience about seven or eight years in the book, and most of this is concentrated into the first half of the book. The only problem with such a quickly moving story is that no tension was really built up anywhere. There was very little time for situations to become more atmospheric and scary, as they were over very quickly. And each part of the story happened fast, and then we jumped on quite a bit. I'm not a fan of slow books, but when it goes so fast so much is lost, it's a problem.

Though this wasn't the best structured book I've ever read, I still did enjoy it and it's got some potential. Fans of the story will enjoy the new interpretations I think, and even readers who aren't familiar with the tale will find this interesting. if you like fantasy, adventure, romance and historical aspects, though not the most accurate or explorative book out there, Shadow of the Wolf could still become a favourite.


Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17232913-shadow-of-the-wolf

Wednesday 2 July 2014

More Than This

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Book Title: More Than This
Author: Patrick Ness
Date Started: June 25th 2014
Date Completed: July 2nd 2014
Genres: Mystery, Adventure, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Dystopian
Rating: Four stars
Review:


I loved the beginning of More Than This, and the overall message was written so well. But unfortunately, I feel like this book was two separate stories. The first section, I absolutely adored. The second section, more the typical kids mystery adventure.


Seth died. He drowned. He remembers it. So how can he be all the way across the sea, in the English house he spent his childhood in. Why is he barely scratched, when he can remember being thrown into the rocks. But here he is, alive and breathing, in his now wrecked hometown. Completely alone.

While I might be harsh on the story itself, I can't fault Ness' writing itself. The narrative works for so many people, and it captures so many real emotions and situations perfectly and realistically. I stopped at several points in the first hundred or so pages and to quietly swear and absorb what just happened. Ness definitely knows how to create a thriller that gives the reader more than a few tense false-starts.
However, this did ultimately end in Ness losing the full appreciation from me when it turned out that Seth was not, in fact, alone. The atmosphere had been built to such a height, it would've been extremely impressive if the reveal of other characters had still shocked me. It also disappointed me that the writing lost a great deal of its depth and intrigue once Tomasz and Regine entered the picture. For me, More Then This was about those thoughtful monologues, and presented them incredibly well. But they all disappeared after the others arrived.

Like I've mentioned before, I felt this novel was split in two: the thoughtful, mysterious beginning, and then adventure of three kids in an empty world. If I hadn't been enjoying the intriguing part of the book so much I might not have been so irritated by the drastic change, but as it happened I preferred the first section far more than the second.
Furthermore, the first part had been broken quite early in, and I felt real empathy for Seth. But then the unoriginality of the main twist and the unnecessary inclusion of things such as the Driver just tore down the expectations I had built up. Another part that I didn't like about the latter portion of the book would be the lack of explanations we get - though I understand why these were not included, since the characters themselves are never really entirely sure what's happening.

For a story that only really has three principle characters, each person involved is presented in a way that tells the reader enough about them to understand their part, but leaves enough room for exploration.
Seth was a great protagonist. He felt very real to me, and was a sensible and wise, if slightly reckless, person. This fitted into the story exactly, as it gave plenty of time for Seth to wander around this empty hell by himself and prevent the reader form becoming bored. I also think the character himself is incredibly strong and resilient, to go through the things he has and come out as a hero at the other end.
I really liked Tomasz and Regine, and would have loved to learn more about their stories, but their arrival coexisted with the deterioration of the book for me. Though both are loveable, I can't help but wish they were presented in a way that didn't change the dynamic of the story.

More Than This is supposed to be a slow and thoughtful book. I was content to travel at the book's own pace when I was taking in the complex and confusing jumble of thoughts in Seth's head. But when new characters came in, and the pace still didn't pick up, I started to get bored. Finally, when the little action scenes did occur, I didn't really care enough to be fully engaged with the story.

Although More Than This did disappoint me, it was still a good book, and I think other people might like the second part of the book more than I did. Though the beginning of the book revolves around mystery and intrigue, I think you need to be interested in the adventurous side as well to enjoy the whole book.

Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21969786-more-than-this