June 2012 - The Y Logs

Yzabel / June 30, 2012

Review: Mary

My rating: [rating=4]

Mary, a 17-year-old girl from London, moves to lovely Eires Green with her father, mother and grandmother. After a series of bad decisions that led to very dark moments in her life, this is her chance at starting anew: new town, new house, new school, new friends… maybe even a boyfriend! Things definitely seem to be looking up for Mary, who grows to enjoy Bell House more than she thought, and can finally hope to find a place of her own here. However, the more she discovers about her new home, the more she realizes that Bell House hasn’t always been devoid of tragedy… and that tragedy might strike again.

As odd as my way of wording it might sound, this novella had a nicely refreshing spookiness. Little by little, the reader is presented with tiny, light touches of eeriness that help the tension build up in a discrete yet efficient manner; they contrast all the more, in restrospect, with the many apparent perfections of Eires Green. At the same time, it was a refreshing read, in that it didn’t leave me with the feeling of just any ghost story. I was pulled in from the beginning, always wanting to know what would happen in the next chapter, and trying to piece up the hints the author scatters along her story; this is not something I make the effort of doing when I’m not so interested in a book.

If I should list one thing I couldn’t really wrap my mind around, unfortunately, it was the fast pace at which relationships evolved in the story. Although that pace made sense once I reached the end and realized why things came to be that way, it was still going too fast to my liking in terms of chronology (one week seemed too short a time frame to develop such relationships—I guess a few weeks would have felt more ‘natural’).

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading “Mary”, and will heartily recommend it.

Yzabel / June 29, 2012

Lessons In (Dystopian) World-Building

First, I want to point out that I haven’t read the book mentioned in the review I’m about to link to, so I won’t hand out any personal opinion about it. I’m only quoting the review because of what it says about world-building.

This I found on Goodreads, a couple of days ago. It’s a review on Wither by Lauren DeStefano, posted by Moorchild, and focusing more specifically on building a believable dystopian world:

There’s a little thing that a writer should take notice when considering writing a dystopia or science fiction work.

It’s called class consciousness.

Classicism, poverty, and non-privileged people exist. The third world exists. Developing countries exist. Countries other than America exist. They should and must be considered in your vision of the future.

Yzabel / June 28, 2012

Review: The Sin Collector

The Sin Collector by Jessica Fortunato

My rating: [rating=3]

(Book read and reviewed for {Read It & Reap 72} in the Shut Up And Read group.)

Liliana is a Sin Collector, an immortal human-like being with the ability to divest a dying person from her sins, so that swhe can find peace in death. However, her kin cannot be in the presence of each other, for fear of suffering terrible pain due to the weight of the sins they’ve absorbed; and so she’s been living on her own for the best of 120 years. Until another Collector tells her that all she’s been believing in until now was all but a lie…

This novel is packed with interesting ideas, which is what drew me to it in first place. The concept of eating someone else’s sins to bring them peace was intriguing, all the more so that it raises questions such as “what about people who’d deserve to pay for their sins?”. Liliana is overall a strong character, who takes the reins of her own life, doesn’t let other people act for her, is trying to do the best she can with the terrible task and power she’s been given, and tries to keep a cool head when faced with hard facts. The tension between some of the characters is efficiently kept up, through events as well as through their behaviours and the palpable mystery that surrounds them. Also, the antagonists’ point of view and aim is, in a way, understandable, and I felt that there was more behind this than just a matter of ‘being righteous’.

Some things I unfortunately found to be a little annoying in this story. For instance, while Liliana’s behaviour is usually positive, she sometimes struck me as having disproportionate reactions, that didn’t fit a 120-year-old woman (sure, she looks like she’s 20, but having lived so long and led such a peculiar life, shouldn’t she be more level-headed, and not react like she was indeed ‘only’ 20?). Recurrent punctuation problems were a minor flaw, but one that tended to be jarring all the same. I didn’t fully get the relationship between Liliana and her mentor—what happens isn’t really in tune with what the reader’s presented with at first, and so it felt quite odd in the end. Finally, the story being a short one, a lot of details were left in the dark; maybe more will be revealed in the series’ next novel, but in the meantime, I’d still have liked to learn more about the process of sin-collecting, about how the Collectors got to exist in the first place—in other words: more about what seemed to me to be the main theme of the book when I got it.

All in all, I enjoyed “The Sin Collector”, and am torn between giving it 3 stars or 4. In the end, I’ll keep it at 3, but I’m positive the author can and will do more with the next part. The promises her world and characters hold are strong and very much present.

Yzabel / June 28, 2012

Reading Habits

This was posted in one of the groups I follow on Goodreads, and I thought it was an interesting little set of questions to answer to:

1. Books or Nook/kindle?
Books, because I still favour the physical item, the scent of paper, and the overall feeling of holding a real bok in my hands. But I’ve come to realize that I like my e-reader more than I thought I would (and its leather-like covering smells nice, too).

2. Where do you like to read?
On the sofa or in bed.

3. Do you use a bookmark, piece of paper, Dog-ear, or lay book flat open?
Usually the receipt from when I bought the book. Its also useful to prove that the book in mine, for instance when I bring it in my bag and have the portal at some store’s entrance accidentally beep.

4. Do you listen to music, watch TV, or Prefer to have it nice in quiet?
It depends on the book. Music for easy novels, but plain silence for academics/complex reads.

5. Do you write little notes in your book, or are you horrified about markings in your book?
I don’t like markings/notes in my books, except in the ones I study for exams. In this specific case, I go trigger-happy on writing down notes in the margins and highlighting text with colour pencils.

6. Do you read to the end of the chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I read to the end of the chapter, or at least to the next white line if there’s a ‘pause’ in the chapter.

7. What are you currently reading?
“The Sin Collector” by Jessica Fortunato.

8. Do you have a favorite Time/place to read?
At home, in the evening, or at meal times.

9. Do you snack while reading? If so whats your favorite reading snack?
Not really. I often read while having my meals (otherwise I’m alone and just plain bored: eating itself isn’t such a fun activity!), but other than that, I won’t grab some bone fide snack just because I’m reading.

10. Do you lend books to people or are you selfish with your books?
I seldom lend books, and it depends on the book itself (I won’t lend books printed on fragile paper to anyone).

11. How do you organized your books? By genre,title, authors last name, etc..?
Wherever there’s some free space left on a shelf. I vaguely tried to keep my books in English from the ones in French, but the English books have been spilling all over the place for quite some time now.

12. Why do you love to read?
Because I love discovering characters, plots, new worlds… as well as learning new things.

Yzabel / June 27, 2012

WWW Wednesdays (June 27)

WWW Wednesday is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

(I don’t know if I’ll do that meme every Wednesday, but I wanted to try it today.)

My answers:

What are you currently reading?
I’ve started “The Sin Collector” by Jessica Fortunato, provided through the Shut Up & Read group on Goodreads.

What did you recently finish reading?
I’ve just finished “Mary” by Ann Haines, kindly sent to me by the author herself. I’ll post my review soon.

What do you think you’ll read next? “Talented” by Sophie Davis, a book I’m going to read for an ARR at the We ♥ YA Books group.

Yzabel / June 26, 2012

Review: 101

101 by Margaret Chatwin

My rating: [rating=4]

(Book read and reviewed for {Read It & Reap 71} in the Shut Up And Read group.)

After years of abuse at the hands of their father, Trigg and his sister Ren do the unthinkable: they defend themselves… and are taken down for this by the expeditive judicial system of the New Age Order, which sends them both to prison town 101. As Trigg decides to go looking for his sister, and discovers quickly that she has actually disappeared from the time of her arrivel, he gets to know more and more about this new little world he’s stuck in, including the fact that 101 holds its own system of eat-or-be-eaten logics, and that nobody on the outside will do anything about it.

This novel was really a page-turner for me—I kept going on for more, and wasn’t happy when I had to stop to do something else (like, oh, going to work). We don’t get to learn that much about the characters; however, what I did learn was enough to give them existence. I liked how Trigg develops, how he learns to cope with his new surroundings, how he decides to take things into his own hands—yet at the same time, he remains a very humane hero, with his doubts, his fears, his emotions. Ren is a strong persona, too, who manages to stand up in spite of the odds. Characters such as Riker and Pintar, albeit not decribed at length, were quite pleasant to read about. As for the antagonist… all I’m going to write for now is that I so enjoyed hating that guy.

I think I would have wanted to see a little more of Ren, or more specifically, how exactly she managed to cope; the story being from Trigg’s point of view, it was a little limited in that regard. (What happened to her, as we learn later in the story, is no bed of roses, and I very much doubt that even a strong persona would go through that unscathed.) Also, while this is a positive point in terms of the action starting quickly, maybe Ren and Trigg’s former life could’ve done with a little more flesh. For instance, I found their father’s behaviour a little strange (was he just a man beating his kids, or did he actually expect something specific from them?…), and I would’ve appreciated learning more about that, even if at the end of the novel only.

Yzabel / June 25, 2012

Review: Feed (Newsflesh #1)

Feed by Mira Grant

My rating: [rating=5]

I read this book one year ago, but never wrote a review, for want of time to do so. Then, a couple of months ago, I posted one on Goodreads. Since it’s a book I really liked, and whose next installments I definitely plan on reading, I now find it appropriate to leave my review here as well.

I’m no fan of ‘regular’ zombie flicks or stories. If it’s only about gore and killing zombies, it usually doesn’t keep my interest up for long. I am more entertained already when there is something else in it. In this book, I found something that I hadn’t thought of at first, but loved reading about: the analysis of how society would go on. How it would get organized. Security matters. Limiting gatherings. Making sure you’re not contaminated. The developing role of internet and blogging to spread the ‘real’ news. Politics. How the virus was born and got to spread—no mad scientist, no ugly plan to kill the whole human race: merely an accident, and unfortunate circumstances.

For me, this book was an exercise in world building. It could’ve been boring, as many works of that type are (unfortunately). It wasn’t at all. Not only the depiction of society got me hooked, but I found the main characters really enjoyable. Their strength, their selflessness, the way they go about their business, their relationships—all of those made me feel close to them (so close that while I saw the end approaching for Buffy and George, I couldn’t bear it). The book also has just the right amount of ‘politics’ for me: I am mildly interested in it, but not too much, and I found the balance just right enough for me.

Granted, the story has its flaws. I was a little disappointed at the ‘villain’, for instance. And some information seems more like info-dumping, and could probably have been introduced differently; however, the “blogging approach” makes it somehow quite logical, and it wasn’t jarring in my opinion.

I admit I’m far, very far from having read a lot of “zombie stories”, so maybe my advice would be more qualified if I had more reading experience in that domain. As of now, the book does deserve my personal 5-stars rating. I enjoyed thoroughly, it entertained me for long hours, and all in all, it’s really what I ask from such a novel.

Yzabel / June 23, 2012

Review: Marty Boggs and the Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb

Marty Boggs & The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb by M.T. Acquaire

My rating: [rating=3]

(Book read and reviewed for {Read It & Reap 68} in the Shut Up And Read group.)

This book deals with the story of Marty Boggs, who finds himself dragged to another town and another life after his mother disappeared and his grandfather suddenly fell comatose. While trying to settle down in his new life—not such an easy feat for a newcomer in a school where everybody already knows each other, and where a new face immediately attracts the unwanted attention of the school bully—Marty soon discovers that odd events are taking place, and that they may be linked to the last archeological discovery his grandfather made before falling sick: the mummy of the long-lost king Kutkara.

I found “The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb” compelling and enthralling, the mystery deepening and thickening with each chapter; some characters definitely gave off strange vibes almost from the beginning, but it was hard to tell why exactly, and so the plot unfolded itself without being given away too soon, with a definite feeling of horror slowly building up. Marty’s nightmares, while of the graphic type, remain dreams, and so they clash all the more with the apparently normal, tranquil side of the average New England town where the story takes place. We are aware that something terrible is going to take place, but we definitely don’t know when nor where exactly.

The main characters seemed well-rounded to me. Margo and her no-nonsense attitude. Simon who always made me smile with his eats-everything-in-sight attitude. Marty who tries to do his best to face whatever is about to befall him, in spite of being burdened with his own suffering. Dani’s courage. Margarete’s true face. Although I wouldn’t say I connected well with all of them, I usually liked them.

On the other hand, the style in some parts came off as a little abrupt to me, and I think that some parts were repetitive—for instance, the fact that Marty is unhappy in his new life, or that the school bully is really the worst, didn’t need to be enforced that much after a certain point (we get it, alright?). A few parts of the plot also seemed to be rushed; mostly I would have liked to know more about who was behind all of the problems, how that person came to become what she was—as well as how exactly Marty came out of the final confrontation with his final opponent. This may be explained in an upcoming book, since it seems to be a starting series, but I’m still of the opinion that it should have been addressed in the first one.

In the end, it is an interesting story, but a couple of parts would probably have to be shortened, and a few others given more attention.

Yzabel / June 23, 2012

Could we forget how to write?

I stumbled upon that article today through another blog I’m following:

Could we forget how to WRITE? The typical adult has not scribbled anything by hand for six weeks

In a world where we increasingly tap out our thoughts, messages and reminders on a keyboard or a touchscreen phone, the traditional note or letter appears to be becoming redundant.

The research, commissioned by online stationer Docmail, revealed that the average time since an adult last wrote by hand was 41 days. But it also found that one in three of us has not had cause to write anything ‘properly’ for more than six months.

Yzabel / June 22, 2012

Review: Fire With Fire

Fire with Fire by Penelope King

My rating: [rating=4]

I had read the first installment of this series for {Read It & Reap 55} in the Shut Up And Read group, and found it interesting. The second one, that got sent to me through the same group, I went through like a breeze. The story was compelling, and I kept being drawn back to it to read more, which is always a good sign in my case.

We already know the main characters from the first book, of course; we get to know them better here, as well as see some development that I was glad about. While Lucky might have just a tad bit too much of a tendency to feel guilty about everything bad that happens (but still gets out to kick ass no matter what), I thought Liora was getting better. There was less whining about how she doesn’t fit in, and more taking things into her own hands, as well as starting to accept to live with her current state (instead of closing her eyes and trying to ignore Lucky’s doings). There was also something terribly beautiful about the relationship between Lucky and Bones (I was so, so unhappy at how things unfolded in chapter 19, and hope we get to know, let’s say, more in the next novel).

Kieron… got on my nerves, but part of me couldn’t keep on thinking that there must be more to his shitty attitude. It was half expected, but he still gave me a good scare here. I found him weaker in this book, though. Perhaps because he doesn’t appear for the first half, and gets less ‘screen time’?

Tristan seemed so shady from the beginning, but I had no idea at first who or what exactly he was, nor what he wanted. I liked the way he progressively weaseled his way into Liora’s life, and how it was introduced, through her skewed perception. It’s not so easy to do that in a first-person narrative, and I was surprised, then intrigued, then satisfied at the way it was brought. (The part about coming back from the mines, and then chapter 11 especially, made me frown and go all “ooookay, now this is really getting weird”—toppled with that line about the blueberries pancakes.)

And Tatiana. I already liked her in the first installment, but now I like her even more.

It’s hard to write a full review without spoiling too much, so I’ll leave it at that. Suffice to say that I will very likely read #3, because I definitely want to know where the characters are going to take it from now on. Too many things have changed in their lives, they can’t go back, and so going forward is the only option, and is bound to bring some surprises.