Wednesday 24 August 2016

American Monsters

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Book Title: American Monsters
Author: Derek Landy
Series: Demon Road #3
Date Started: August 14th 2016
Date Completed: August 23rd 2016
Genres: Horror, Action, Thriller, Adventure
Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Star
Final Rating: Four stars
Review:

◆ Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for this eBook copy for review ◆

So the Demon Road trilogy has been a bit of a rollercoaster for everyone, I think. Personally, I'm happy I read it and it's strengthened my desire to read anything Derek comes up with. It's definitely not perfect and not what a lot of people were expecting, but considering there was so much to live up to after Skulduggery I think it's been a worthwhile ride.

I admit horror isn't really my thing, I'll just read anything Derek writes because I have such faith in him as a storyteller and entertainer. However, even I get dragged into the little horror 'episodes' dotted around the main plotline like in an old 80s TV show. Add some of Derek's trademark wit and humour and you've got yourself a nice little story - and by nice I mean horrific and gory, but it's Derek. I have to admit, the humour is a little harder to get behind when you don't connect with the characters so well, and though I'm not squeamish or a stranger to graphic violence, I did feel the horror bits went a bit far at times.

American Monsters made me realise what's been putting up a bit of a wall between me and these books: the chemistry between Amber and Milo is what in theory should drive this story forward, but in reality it has to be given help by little things that aren't always there. In the first book, I think we all noticed the similarities between Amber and Milo to Skulduggery and Valkyrie. Subconsciously or not, I think Derek took that response from Demon Road and tried to move the protagonists of this trilogy in a slightly different direction (which I think works on the basis of Amber and Milo as individuals), but this inevitably made their relationship less natural and little more strained. And when the structure of a road-trip-meets-overarching-revenge-story stays just like the first book, things just don't work quite as well without that strong partnership holding it up.
Having said that, there are still times when everything works together. Despite me wanting to think I know Derek;s style well, I'm still pleasantly surprised when he comes up with something I wasn't expecting. The climax of American Monsters proved that (overall conclusion not so much, but you know). I really liked how we went back over a lot of Amber and Milo's adventures and exploration from the whole trilogy to really tie everything together - though how I was supposed to remember all the unfamiliar names of the killers I'm not sure. Overall, by the end everything was resolved nicely and in a way that suited the trilogy.

You can always trust Derek to come up with diverse and interesting characters. They'll be developed, they'll have original elements if they're not entirely new, and they'll have a purpose for being in the story. That doesn't necessarily mean you'll like them, though. Don't get me wrong, I don't need to like everyone to get on with a story and one of the strengths of this trilogy is there aren't really any 'good guys', but after having so many of the characters in Skulduggery mean a lot to me, it felt a bit strange to come out of another of Derek's books without feeling attached to anyone.
Amber is kind of my primary example of this; I just haven't been able to get behind her. I really like how she's a flawed protagonist and has this hypocritical but stubborn idea of morals - and really no one else could have led this trilogy. But however much I tried I just couldn't connect with her and her journey, which definitely took away from my enjoyment of this series as a whole.

Looking back over the series, I think Derek had found a balance in terms of structure and pacing that he was happy with by American Monsters. While there isn't as much blending of genres - it's pretty much just horror - we get a good variety between the primary plotline and the more episodic horror segments. Personally, the more old-school horror parts were more enjoyable, mainly because you can just tell how much Derek loves writing them (I could literally feel his excitement off the page, which just makes me smile).

The Demon Road trilogy has been okay, with American Monsters drawing things together in much the same style as the rest of the books. Honestly, Derek had a hard wrap from the start with his pre-made fanbase and the slight difference in genres. These are good books but I can understand that if you aren't a horror fan, or especially attached to individual authors like I am, you might not get along with it quite as well. However, if you like a good creepy, gory, action-packed supernatural horror your search is over.

Image Source - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29564630-american-monsters

Monday 15 August 2016

The Deviants

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Book Title: The Deviants
Author: C.J. Skuse
Date Started: August 9th 2016
Date Completed: August 14th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Thriller, Mystery
Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Five Star
Final Rating: Four stars
Review:

◆ Thank you HarperCollins for providing me with this proof copy to review ◆
◆ I will be participating in a blog tour for the release of The Deviants
in September on thedaisydeer.blogspot.co.uk - keep an eye out! ◆

I tend not to dive into the young adult contemporary genre unless something really catches my eye, but a revenge story inspired by the Famous Five if it had had a dark edge - and some impressive reviews - was enough to get me interested. Going in, I didn’t really know much about the actual story past those elements, and I definitely didn’t expect the tough issues that drove the central plot. As it happens I’m very happy a proof copy did find its way to me because I really enjoyed it.

Thinking back on it, The Deviants still impressed me at how enjoyable such a dark plot was made to be. This isn’t a slightly grim contemporary, there're some really uncomfortable topics explored in its pages. Having said that, there were definitely times when the characters felt very childish in their actions, and a little cliched in their behaviour. I think what made it work in the end was Skuse’s ability to create gentle tension in normal situations, and bring a little lightheartedness into an unhappy scene without disregarding the darker circumstances.

One of the main strengths of this book is its attention to realism and creating a sense of community between this small group of people. This is what holds up all the events, and makes you root for the protagonists even though they do some seriously questionable things at times. It’s also what makes things interesting and tense. There’s a genuine sense that there are going to be consequences if they don’t act, as well as if they do. At times, when things get a little bit darker, this gets a bit lost: we get some overly analytical expositions from people that probably wouldn’t be able to recount events in such a way so that the reader is educated enough to understand what’s happening, and the ending particularly was a bit unrealistic in its heights of drama. However, everything else is done so well and in a way that, as a reader, you really do feel on the edge of your seat and thrilled (something that I find surprisingly hard in a most of the thrillers I read) that honestly I’m fine to let little slip ups like that pass.
In terms of the climax itself, like I said, it felt a little over-the-top in a way that didn’t quite match the rest of the book, and the resolution that followed felt a bit too perfect. It was so neatly finished that something that was perhaps meant to feel bittersweet felt like a happy ending, and after what had felt like a very real and emotional storyline I didn’t get that proper feeling of triumph like I was supposed to. In terms of the educational benefit, I think Skuse achieves everything she set out to in those last twenty pages, but the enjoyable and realistic side of the book lost out a bit for me right at the finish line.

This book had a good cast of flawed but lovable characters all round. I was also happy that, as this is a book that relies a lot on events in the past, we get to learn and know these characters in the present. A lot of stories that are built on backstories favour flashbacks to develop their characters, and tend to neglect the story that they’re currently telling, but thankfully the characters of The Deviants were well written throughout.
For a protagonist who’s introduced to us as actually quite dislikable, I don’t quite know how I ended up so invested in Ella. She develops a lot even in this short book, but I think I really liked seeing a character constantly caught between confronting her emotions through anger or kindness. There’s a sense that she’s very aware herself that she makes bad decisions at times, but she also has enough faith in her judgement and character to push through them anyway. I think she was really strong and a great person to build this story around.

The Deviants gets into the action quickly but lets the reader ease into working things out for themselves. It’s very much a book where you can try and be one step ahead of the game if you want to, but can also just let it take you along slowly. This makes it quite enjoyable to read whatever your style is, but I will warn you that by the halfway point I couldn’t really stop reading until the end.

What really impressed me in the end with The Deviants was that Skuse didn’t just tick the boxes for a fun plot, diversity, tough issues and drama; she actually fulfils them the whole way through. Actions have consequences and it's not as simple as good vs evil. That sort of realism is so often sacrificed in favour of a fast-paced plot, but Skuse manages to sneak in both. Definitely worth a read but keep in mind it’s not for younger readers and there might be triggering events for some people.

Image Source - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23126437-the-deviants

Thursday 11 August 2016

The Raven King

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Book Title: The Raven King
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #4
Date Started: July 25th 2016
Date Completed: August 9th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary, Mystery, Romance
Quality Rating: Three Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Star
Final Rating: Three stars
Review:

I'm conflicted about the conclusion to The Raven Cycle, but the thing that just keeps slipping back into my head is what was the point of these books as a series? There's no reason the story had to take this long: everything has been in place since the beginning, and though it's taken a while for that to be revealed to the readers, the characters were effectively aware of this the whole time. If the characters had needed to develop to a certain point before everything resolved itself then I would understand, but I don't feel like either that happening or it even being a requirement came across.

It’s taken me four books to work it out, but the reason this series has felt off for me right from the start is because Stiefvater couldn’t quite decide what she wanted. These books are caught halfway between a YA supernatural romance and see sort of poetic magical realist literature, being dragged one way when it suits, and the other in between. The writing is overly poetic at times, but then the characters speak in annoyingly modern ways; not a lot of physical events happen so we’re inclined to lean towards the emotional subtext, but anything important is only given to us in dramatic events; there’s all these little backstories and side narratives that end up being irrelevant to the actual story; one moment Blue's a main protagonist, then she's sharing it with Gansey, then neither of them are important and it's Ronan and Adam's story. I have no doubt that it could have been pulled off, but it didn't even feel like Steifvater was trying to get a balance or mixture - it just felt like she wanted to keep her options open and couldn't commit to either. On the one hand I understand why this happened, but it left me so uncertain as to what I should react to and how, and kept drawing me out of the story throughout the entire thing. This was personally a huge thing that got to me because this series has had so much potential from the start but it's never quite made it there.

For all these books I’ve felt a little detached from the narrative, but more so this time. I think by this point there were so many people to keep up with when I really just wanted to get to explore the protagonists, so I wasn’t really engaging with the side narratives which take up at least half of The Raven King. We end up having these huge sections on one character, then a strange almost interval from some irrelevant secondary character and then a huge section for a different protagonist, but there’s no cohesion between everything. It didn’t feel like Blue and her Raven Boys; it felt like Blue and Adam and Ronan and Gansey separated with other one-off people.
This is particularly apparent when it came to the antagonist storyline. Did ‘Team Evil’ (pokémon reference anyone?) actually have any impact whatsoever on anything in the end? Considering how much time and effort throughout this series has been put into drawing us away from the protagonists to see what’s going on with this host of evil people that all blend into one honestly, I would at least expect something to come out of it. But I’m genuinely struggling a bit to remember what they did past killing each other every other chapter.
Now, it’s always hard to end a series. The more conclusions I read to series the more I empathise with the authors that have to somehow tie things together for the story to be resolved, but gently enough to open up opportunities for the reader’s imagination on what happens next. Sufficed to say, I wasn’t happy with the ending of The Raven Cycle - but only on one side of it. I’ve heard a lot of people complain about the climax being a let-down, but personally I felt it was done well enough to close the story (keeping in mind that this story has always been a little illusive on what’s really going on). What disappointed me was the emotional cop out, and that quite frankly ruined it. The whole mystery is tied up and done with, sure, but where was that proper emotion at the end with these characters. Up to now, The Raven Cycle has been a series about people, but it felt like that just couldn’t hold up at the final hurdle, and so we got a nice neat plot end, but just a bit of an empty mess for everything else.

The characters have always been the strongest parts of these books, and while having such a wide variety of protagonists, antagonists and side characters is great for building up a world, it just became too much in this last book.
Gansey and Blue are probably the ‘main’ characters of this series, being at the heart of the primary storyline and given a little more screen time than everyone else, as well as being mentioned by every other character we meet. But in a series like this where we’re supposed to be looking at a community instead of an individual, things have been getting a bit muddled: they’re not really supposed to be the protagonists, but they end up feeling like this. I think Stiefvater tried to balance this out more in The Raven King by just not featuring them as much, but instead of them not being quite so much the center of attention, they just felt less solid than in the previous books. That might also be down to the fact that they’re officially a couple now, and all storytellers seem to struggle to create interest when two people are no longer beating around the bush about their feelings for each other.
Ronan and Adam are much more interesting to me - even more so now that I’ve reached a place where the way Adam’s narrative is presented doesn’t annoy me. I’ve never had a problem with his story, in fact I think it’s one of the strongest parts of these books, but just the way Stiefvater got it across always made me just a little bit irritated. A lot of me coming to terms with it finally is because of Adam’s involvement with Ronan in this book. Ronan’s been one of my favourites since the start, and he’s become increasingly interesting as the books have progressed: and finally we actually get to really properly explore him. While I don’t like how overflowing this series becomes with unnecessary characters, it has meant that Ronan has slowly been given more and more time in scenes. Rightly deserved, too.
However, the issue of all these irrelevant characters being added was a huge one, not least because it cut out some of the strongest figures in this series. I don’t really understand why someone like Henry - a painfully average and new character that hasn’t created a bond with the reader - is suddenly brought in as a main character, and people like Noah and the women of 300 Fox Way disappear for no reason. The logic of replacing characters that have been properly developed over three books and just in general are so interesting, and new people just doesn’t make any sense to me. I’m personally quite annoyed by this because Noah and the psychics were by far the most interesting people in this series, and yet we get to see them for collectively about four pages worth, if that.

Stiefvater's books have always taken me that little bit longer to read since I find her writing hard to read in big chunks, and even more so in this book where everything feels quite static to begin with. However, that last third of the book I enjoyed more than the last three books put together - it was just ruined by that cop-out at the end. I know other people are a little disappointed by how the climax itself played out, but I was actually okay with the resolution to the event-driven plot; it's the emotional relationship-driven plot that fell down for me.

The Raven Cycle has been a fun ride and worth the read, but I’m still quite conflicted about where I stand with it. The big thing for me was the fact it housed a lot of potential but chose to focus on some strange areas of development within that. The Raven King itself was a good conclusion to the quartet, and kept up the themes and feel of the books - I was just hoping for a little more in the end.

Image Source - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25394092-the-raven-king