Books Archives - Page 70 of 71

Yzabel / June 26, 2012

Review: 101

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 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.

Yzabel / June 21, 2012

Review: Anna Dressed In Blood

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

My rating: [rating=4]

3.5 to 4 stars to this book. I decided on 4 on the end, because I really had a good time reading it, in spite of those of its aspects I found annoying.

The story kept me on the edge of my seat, and I always wanted to know more—about where it was going, what would happen to the characters—which is one of the more important things I ask from a book. I didn’t care much for Cas at first, with his too-cool-guy spiel in his new school, but after a while, his point of view grew on me, and I felt at ease with him. Carmel, too, was a nice surprise: a “queen bee” who isn’t so stupid and shallow as I feared at first, and who gives a useful hand. Finally, Anna was a very intriguing protagonist, appearing as both terrible and beautiful; more than once I felt the desire to actually draw her, something that seldom happens to me. The revelations about her story were awful because of their cruelty, and made her quite the tragis character.

However,I felt that she was weaker in the second part of the book, as the change in her kicked in, and this was too bad. Also, I felt very frustrated when the real antagonist popped in: I would have wanted to know so much more about that part, what led to it, why, how it had happened. I really hope this will be addressed in book #2, because it was intense and terrifying (what he did to Cas seriously freaked me out), and unexpected, too… but there weren’t enough details about the motives behind it.

Yzabel / June 20, 2012

Review: A Demon Made Me Do It

A Demon Made Me Do It by Penelope King

My rating: [rating=3]

(Book read and reviewed for {Read It & Reap 55} in the Shut Up And Read group.)

Told from the points of view of both Liora and Lucky, the story deals with a girl who’s human during the day, and half-demon at night. While they share the same body (and are basically the same soul, only cut in two), Liora doesn’t know what Lucky does, and conversely. Every day seems to be the same old drill for Liora: going to school to follow classes she knows by heart and isn’t interested in, while being labelled the school freak and not having any real friend to speak of. Every night also seems to be the same for Lucky: a trip to the Demon world, minor demons to hunt, humans to punish for their deeds. Until a new boy, Kieron, enrolls in Liora’s school.

I was a little afraid that the tone of the book would be too reminiscent of your typical teen angst, especially in the chapters focusing on Liora (who seemingly likes to wallow in all the bad sides of her life, without enjoying the good moments); and the constant rejecting of fault on each other got tiring after a while, even though it was also understandable, given their circumstances. At times, it deterred me from the pleasure of reading. Fortunately, the first chapters still managed to get me in fairly easily. The world inhabited by the demons is interesting, nicely described, and its layers and social links make it clear that Liora/Lucky’s situation is even trickier than the pitch promised at first.

Kieron’s first appearance didn’t do much for me. Typical good-looking boy with dazzling smile and eyes, with all the popular girls flitting around him like flies, but the only one to really catch his interest is unpopular Liora (who’s actually a hottie, but doesn’t want to believe it; thanks Satan Lucky is here to be cool, sassy, and make her wear sexy clothes and make-up). Granted, the reason why gets revealed later on; at first, it gave way to quite a little bit of eye-rolling. I enjoyed reading about Lucky more than about Liora, though the latter got better in the end; I guess Lucky is just more my type of character. As for Kieron… I still can’t decide if I disliked him or if he was at least mildly bearable. The character I liked the most, all in all, was Bones; there’s no particular reason, in fact, I just liked his way of behaving and his personality—straightforward incubus, but also very loyal to his friends.

It was an enjoyable read, but it could’ve been better, notably in terms of pacing. The way the point of view is carried between Lucky and Liora sometimes leaves certain things in the dark in an odd way, or switches at moments that seemed weird to me. The ending was a little abrupt, compared to the relative ‘speed’ of the rest of the book. On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoyed that ending and the lesson it carried. The themes of ‘revenge’ and ‘how revenge can ruin your life’, are something I am deeply interested in. I think that Lucky made the right choice, and that it was quite a positive ending.The book ends on some kind of closure, yet some things are still not resolved, such as the other crimes of the Amazèa, some elements about Kieron’s employment, or whether Liora and Lucky can become one again, and how; and so, in spite of its flaws, I still want to read the next installment.

Yzabel / June 16, 2012

Review: Silver Knight

Silver Knight by Caron Rider

My rating: [rating=3]

[I got the ebook version to review through a We ♥ YA Books ARR.]

Silver Knight is a book I enjoyed reading, but that left me confused at times.

First, I must say that I liked the overall plot. It seemed intriguing at first—’a girl realizing that the priest in a certain YouTube video is actually a man she met in a former life—and it kept on being so. What could have been easily solved, and apparently is, also raises more questions and issues. Is the problem addressed in the video solved at the end of the book? Not so much, and it clearly points at a sequel and at a more complex story. I’m sure I’m not the only one who found some elements pretty fishy.

The characters I found appealing. Diana, among others, struck me as a strong enough persona, thanks to her decisions and actions in the present timeline, as well as to what was shown of her in her past lives, that nicely echo elements from the main plotline. Besides, I’ve always had a sweet spot for different readings of historical events (same with historical characters), and the stories the author conveyed here were interesting: the retelling of Helen’s fate, Alexander’s real identity (I didn’t need much to guess it, but it was still nice to read about), what happened in Pompeii… Although some might say those were contrived, I nevertheless thought them told originally enough.

However, those past lives and events were also what left me confused: I’d say there were just a little too many of them, all the more so that they were interspersed with other characters’ points of view. While those were interesting, they contributed to making the main plot difficult to follow at times, as well as having it appear a little weak (in that if you remove the parts about the past lives, there isn’t that much left, come to think of it). I understand that the ‘past lives aspect’ is an important part of the novel’s pitch, and that it’s important to have it in; it just seems to me that it was too much to chew on all at once, and that some of it might have been better kept off until the second installment.

That said, it was a good story, and I will probably read the sequel.

Yzabel / June 15, 2012

Review: The Feminine Mystique

As I mentioned in another post, I don’t have that much time to write these days. However, since I still want to add some content to this blog, I’m going to do it all the same, by posting a few of the book reviews I’ve written in the past weeks. Let’s start with:

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan

My rating: [rating=3]

This book was quite interesting, in that it allowed me to get a closer look at feminism in a period and in a country I’m currently studying about for an exam. It helped me delve deeper into something I thought I knew, yet didn’t know that much. Now I understand much better how and why it must have had quite an impact at the time of its first publication. I have experienced myself some of the feelings the author describes—not as a mother and housewife (which I am not), but because there was a time when I was searching for something more than get-married-and-settle-in-the-suburb, too, and felt like there was much more to my life than what I had at the time. In that regard, it pretty much hit home as far as I’m concerned, regarding the memories I have of that bygone period of my life.

Somehow, I even wonder if we’re so far from the issue. Even very recently, I was told “why don’t you find yourself a man?”, as if this would be the solution to everything. Would it, really?

I didn’t like it “more than that”, though, for the reason that it was a somehow tedious read in our era. The author seems to drag a little too much on some aspects, repeating them several times—I get it that she wanted to drive her point home, and I don’t doubt that it was needed at the time, but it made it hard for me to focus at some point, feeling that this or that section wouldn’t bring me more.

Yzabel / June 11, 2012

Book reviews: ARRs and ARCs

Part of the reasons why I’m very busy this year is that I’ve been trying to read more—I’ve always been an avid reader, but having many projects and many centers of interest make it so that I only have a little time to devote to each of those. And reading is what tends to be put on the back burner, since it’s one of my least ‘productive’ activities. (By ‘productives’, I mean ‘an activity that leaves me with a finished product, such as a piece of drawing, a chapter, a short story, etc.’ Of course reading will always be more productive to me intellectually than, say, watching TV.)

Putting aside required readings, such as those that’d be useful for my job or for my studies—I’m an eternal student, really—I’ve also been taking part from time to time in what’s usually called ARRs (Author Requested Readings) and ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies). Both are in a way similar, being offered by authors and publishers. The difference, as far as I’ve understood, is that ARCs are the step right before official publishing—a sort of last proof-reading—so of course, they’re not always perfect in terms of typos. ARRs are requested by their authors, for instance, indie authors going through self-publishing (which doesn’t mean that such novels are bad just because they’re indie, of course).

So far, I’ve only done that through a couple of groups on Goodreads, but this experience was interesting, and I may do it again elsewhere if the opportunity strikes. I’ll also post here the few reviews I wrote about such books. Some were pleasant reads; others were less interesting. I tried to remain as objective as possible when writing my critiques.

Yzabel / January 9, 2010

Review: Are You Watching?

Are You Watching? by Vincent Ralph
My rating: ★★★★☆

Blurb:

Ten years ago, Jess’s mother was murdered by the Magpie Man.

She was the first of his victims, but not the last.

Now Jess is the star of a YouTube reality series and she’s using it to catch the killer once and for all.

The whole world is watching her every move.

And so is the Magpie Man.

Review:

[I received a copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

Ten years ago, Jess’s mother was the first victim of a serial killer that proceed to claim many more—one woman every nine months since then. Tired of said killer still being at large, Jess decides to apply to a YouTube reality show that will give her one day of air time every week, which she plans to use to appeal to potential witnesses, and basically keep the case hot so that her family can finally see justice being served.

All in all, this story turned out enjoyable and fairly well-constructed overall, with a nice balance of red herrings and suspense, even though the premise is slightly over the top. (The first thing anyone should think when it comes to Jessica’s means is “if that killer’s still around it will attract their attention and she’ll be their next victim for sure”, so it’s kind of baffling that the adults around her were relatively easily on board with it—especially in that time and age, when the flip side of social media is not a mystery.) It also has something very simple, but that I enjoy in this kind of novel: short chapters (sometimes 1-2 pages long, not more), which means that, since I mainly read while commuting and during breaks, I could easily stop and pick it up again pretty much at any time, even when I only had five minutes to read. And I did want to keep reading, and knowing what would happen next.

Of course, the heroine being 17, her decisions were often reckless and bordering on stupid, which is definitely not unheard of in YA stories… On the other hand, it does make up for twists and not-so-happy consequences for the characters, so that’s that. All TSTL tendencies set apart, though, I really liked the other aspects of the story. Jess’s relationship with her close firneds. How her family has been spending the past ten years mired in grief, with her father trying to function as best as he could but never becoming who he used to be again. Her meeting the families of the other victims of the “Magpie Man”. It wasn’t only about catching a killer, but also about (re)discovering how to live after such gruesome events, after a loved one is snatched away from you—and after realising that yes, one’s actions always has consequences.

Conclusion: 3.5 stars.