Kingdom Cold by Brittni Chenelle
A free copy was provided by NetGalley in trade for my honest feedback ☺ So excited about that site!!
Recommended: sure!
For those who enjoy the fight-for-your-crown plot line, and unexpectedly realistic characters in this otherwise unrelatable setting for modern-day people (unless you're modern-day royalty, I suppose!)
Summary:
When the fighting of her country's endless war spills into Princess Charlotte's her own courtyard, she's delighted to call off her arranged marriage with Prince Young. After fleeing with her stoic betrothed, they finally escape one battle and immediately find themselves in another. A sleazy new suitor is suddenly scheming for her hand --- and her kingdom --- and suddenly Young doesn't look so bad as an ally, if not a husband. Trying to save the kingdom Besmium from being overrun with enemies begins with figuring out who among their own they can really trust.
A very bold ending that I deeply applaud. I'm hoping Kingdom Soul delivers just as much in the sequel!
Overall, I quite enjoyed the story! The characters had distinct and developed personalities that consistently carry through in their actions, and have the miraculous ability to actually talk to each other (instead of that thing where the conflict would be resolved by a short chat). We got a few chapters from the perspectives of the not-quite-main characters, which actually worked really well to add depth all around and tangle you up by making you feel a bit sympathetic even for the villains.
The places I stumbled were the grammatical errors, particularly issues with missing commas. Those really stand out to me, and it took me out of the story at best, and at worst made me actually not understand what was happening. There were also a few times when actions were inconsistent (such as Charlotte saying she sat up to talk to her mother, then when her father entered the room "it was almost enough to make her sit up". I'm like, girl you're already sitting up??).
These are small issues that can easily be solved with a second pair of eyes taking a look at the text though, and the driving force of characters and story was solid!
Skeleton Women by Mingmei Yip
Recommended: yes, BUT...
for those who are interested in 1930s Shanghai (and let me tell you, everyone should be. it was a crazy and wondrous time), and emotional development of characters, and flexibility of mind to accept a very different culture and set of norms. Don't have high expectations for action-plot or romance.
So what DIDN'T work for me was the romance and the amount of tangible action. The main romance was very weak and frankly, Jinjin annoys me as a useless whiny pretty boy. And even though this is a story around a trained assassin working in a world of top-tier gangsters... there was not nearly as much tension as you'd expect from that setup.
However, I really enjoyed reading this. The way it's written is what I liked best, since the character is very consistent in her thoughts and actions. I felt a stab of pride understanding her many "The Art of War" references from reading it last year, and combined with the 36 Stratagems, I liked hearing her interpretations of them in her life. The descriptions of sex are odd and sometimes funny to a 2019 American woman (a woman's "gate of mystery" will never not crack me up), but again, they felt fitting to the character and sometimes were actually rather beautiful. The writing and the setting were the strengths here for me, more than that actual events. Which seems kind of odd, now that I'm writing it out, but hey, I like what I like.
Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts
Friday, May 24, 2019
Friday, May 10, 2019
May 5 - May 11, 2019
Circe by Madeline Miller
God that was exhausting. Didn't think I'd make it through. I am *BAFFLED* by how this was 2018 Best Fantasy Book on Goodreads. I guess I won't be following those as recommendations for what to read anymore, and this was my first attempt at that!
Recommended: NOPE
It lacked emotion, a likable main character, and at times was even lacking interest (aka.... it was dull.)
This follows the life of the goddess Circe, which seemed really exciting because she is a FASCINATING character of mythology. Unfortunately, it was written very weirdly, and it felt like she had no emotion, no strong voice, and came across almost like a documentary. I could picture David Attenborough reading this to me. (Audiobook idea? He would def make it better!)
At times it was just pages and pages of her saying "I'm bored" in a million different ways. I get that exile might be boring for an eternity, but my god, maybe you went too far with making your reader emphasize because I put the book down for a week or two and only barely managed to pick it back up! I didn't like Circe in this story. She was wildly fickle, flipping from one extreme to the other, with no consistency.
There are some events that I thought, there's no WAY this can be boring (her and the Minotaur, crossing Scylla's path, etc) and at times those parts did really suck me in. But in order to get to the Minotaur, we had days of bland sailing, looking around the woods, complaining to and about how mean her sister is. And that just really sucks the fun away.
I didn't HATE this book, but I was immensely bored by it, and disappointed by the Goodreads community, because how the heck was THIS what they thought the best fantasy book of 2018 was?! Fantasy is in a really bad state if that's true. Don't get sucked into the hype like I did, and try picking up Ben Bova's The Winds of Altair if you're looking for some real fantasy.
God that was exhausting. Didn't think I'd make it through. I am *BAFFLED* by how this was 2018 Best Fantasy Book on Goodreads. I guess I won't be following those as recommendations for what to read anymore, and this was my first attempt at that!
Recommended: NOPE
It lacked emotion, a likable main character, and at times was even lacking interest (aka.... it was dull.)
This follows the life of the goddess Circe, which seemed really exciting because she is a FASCINATING character of mythology. Unfortunately, it was written very weirdly, and it felt like she had no emotion, no strong voice, and came across almost like a documentary. I could picture David Attenborough reading this to me. (Audiobook idea? He would def make it better!)
At times it was just pages and pages of her saying "I'm bored" in a million different ways. I get that exile might be boring for an eternity, but my god, maybe you went too far with making your reader emphasize because I put the book down for a week or two and only barely managed to pick it back up! I didn't like Circe in this story. She was wildly fickle, flipping from one extreme to the other, with no consistency.
There are some events that I thought, there's no WAY this can be boring (her and the Minotaur, crossing Scylla's path, etc) and at times those parts did really suck me in. But in order to get to the Minotaur, we had days of bland sailing, looking around the woods, complaining to and about how mean her sister is. And that just really sucks the fun away.
I didn't HATE this book, but I was immensely bored by it, and disappointed by the Goodreads community, because how the heck was THIS what they thought the best fantasy book of 2018 was?! Fantasy is in a really bad state if that's true. Don't get sucked into the hype like I did, and try picking up Ben Bova's The Winds of Altair if you're looking for some real fantasy.
Saturday, March 16, 2019
March 10 - 16, 2019
The Similars by Rebecca Hanover
Loved it for a while, then abruptly got bored about 80% in, which should have been the big exciting part. But man, I just finished it to finish it. Not expecting to read the next in a hurry.
Loved it for a while, then abruptly got bored about 80% in, which should have been the big exciting part. But man, I just finished it to finish it. Not expecting to read the next in a hurry.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
January 13 - January 19, 2019
Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
I'll probably finish this book this week since its a pretty quick and easy read. It's nothing that's blowing me away, but I'm definitely enjoying reading it and finding that I can't anticipate what will happen as I usually do, which is a delight. I also love some of the dark ironies in the book's plot, and am morbidly fascinated with what will go wrong for each girl next. The writing also just has some interesting moments in a linguistic sense, when I just pause to re-read a sentence and enjoy the way it sounds or how it is written. The characters have an impressive amount of depth for having to split the book between three of them with rotating perspective chapters. Oddly enough, this is actually also the only book I'm actively reading at the moment. So unusual for me!
A fantasy YA book that I can't predict is a dream! Immediately starting the second book---so you know it's good.
I'll probably finish this book this week since its a pretty quick and easy read. It's nothing that's blowing me away, but I'm definitely enjoying reading it and finding that I can't anticipate what will happen as I usually do, which is a delight. I also love some of the dark ironies in the book's plot, and am morbidly fascinated with what will go wrong for each girl next. The writing also just has some interesting moments in a linguistic sense, when I just pause to re-read a sentence and enjoy the way it sounds or how it is written. The characters have an impressive amount of depth for having to split the book between three of them with rotating perspective chapters. Oddly enough, this is actually also the only book I'm actively reading at the moment. So unusual for me!
A fantasy YA book that I can't predict is a dream! Immediately starting the second book---so you know it's good.
Saturday, January 12, 2019
January 6 - 12, 2019
I love starting off the year with winning a Goodreads Giveaway book!! :D
The Rule of One by Ashley Saunders
Won this in a goodreads giveaway!
Eh. Nothing particularly new or original, writing was average and at times kind of weird. Little details didn't make sense, like a character saying the light from behind someone made a badge on his front perfectly shiny and clear... With light from behind him... So he'd be a silhouette of darkness.... Maybe I'm just also not that interested in "fugitive on the run" stories, which is 80% of this book. Just hiding in fields and sneaking into trucks. Eh.
The Rule of One by Ashley Saunders
Won this in a goodreads giveaway!
Eh. Nothing particularly new or original, writing was average and at times kind of weird. Little details didn't make sense, like a character saying the light from behind someone made a badge on his front perfectly shiny and clear... With light from behind him... So he'd be a silhouette of darkness.... Maybe I'm just also not that interested in "fugitive on the run" stories, which is 80% of this book. Just hiding in fields and sneaking into trucks. Eh.
Saturday, September 8, 2018
September 2 - September 8, 2018
The Moth by Catherine Burns and many others
So this is, as I say, the only moth I will ever love. Based on The Moth stories hosted by NPR, this is a collection of stories transcribed from the spoken ones they originated as. I have adored these stories since I stumbled upon them and looked beyond the off-putting name to fall in love. Listening to them is a treat, but I also love words. This book also features some stories that are not available in audio due to crazy circumstances of their origins (ex. one salvaged from a war-torn region that had terrible audio quality but was able to be transcribed). So I have been seriously loving these. The moth never lets me down. Even the Steve Osborne story was a good one (which I've now learned is a rarity; more from him later). The way their grouped is great too, categories like "in the trenches" and "shot through the heart," and as always, with their wide range of induced emotions. Happy tears, sad tears, and the stories that make me want to call up my sweetheart.
The Job: True Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop by Steve Osborne
My friend at work had told me about this book, which he loved, probably six months ago or so. I kept putting it off due to my never-ending list of current reads. However, after reading his story "Mug Shot" in The Moth, I decided I'd follow up and read the guy's book.
Oh my god. How much I dislike him. I could forgive that the writing isn't fantastic, since obviously he's a cop not a writer, and considering as well that many of these were originally verbally told or standalone stories, I could move beyond how many times the same joke or phrase is repeated. What I *can't* move beyond is how he treats women. I mean, this guy. He's just gross. And when I said this to my friend, he shrugged and said "That's just how guys are." I told him it still wasn't shit I wanted to hear, and that it's not necessarily how guys SHOULD be, just because the norm perpetuates something negative. So I am having a real hard time with this guy constantly talking about how he's passing time watching ladies in shorts run by, and ranking them with his buddy, and similarly pig-ish and misogynistic things to say. Couple that with aggressive conservatism, and this guy is just NOT for me. His stories might be interesting or moving to read, but when filtered through his brain and voice, I'm honestly forcing myself to continue it. We'll see if I just abandon it. When I start every new paragraph, page, and story, with my eyes narrowed in expectation of reading something that will turn me off... it gets old fast. Reading his stories are kind of making me see why my brother is constantly hating on cops a bit more....
The Last Guardian (Warcraft #3) by Jeff Grubb
WELL HOLY SMOKES. My fourth book in the Warcraft world, and my god every one is just as good as the last in a whole new way. This author is less polished than some of the others I've read, but he also used a lot of really strange archaic words to fit the era. I don't super love that, but I did love learning all these bizarre new words (cantrip, muzzy, eldritch, lapidarium, thaumaturgic... the list goes on!). Also a shoutout to my favorite description of anything: "with the sound of an egg imploding." Fascinating description. Absolutely NO IDEA what that would be.
For the story, absolutely loved it. It's rare that there's a twist or revelation that catches me off guard, but I was VERY unprepared for one of the primary explanations in this! Holy crap! It's so exciting to learn about the characters I've seen briefly, or heard an intriguing mention of. Every time I think, "Wow, I hope I get to hear that story sometime" it tends to be the next one that comes up! Wow. Yes. Love it. If you're into Azeroth at all, this series is so far holding really strong. Bringing much more depth as I play the game, as well.
So this is, as I say, the only moth I will ever love. Based on The Moth stories hosted by NPR, this is a collection of stories transcribed from the spoken ones they originated as. I have adored these stories since I stumbled upon them and looked beyond the off-putting name to fall in love. Listening to them is a treat, but I also love words. This book also features some stories that are not available in audio due to crazy circumstances of their origins (ex. one salvaged from a war-torn region that had terrible audio quality but was able to be transcribed). So I have been seriously loving these. The moth never lets me down. Even the Steve Osborne story was a good one (which I've now learned is a rarity; more from him later). The way their grouped is great too, categories like "in the trenches" and "shot through the heart," and as always, with their wide range of induced emotions. Happy tears, sad tears, and the stories that make me want to call up my sweetheart.
The Job: True Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop by Steve Osborne
My friend at work had told me about this book, which he loved, probably six months ago or so. I kept putting it off due to my never-ending list of current reads. However, after reading his story "Mug Shot" in The Moth, I decided I'd follow up and read the guy's book.
Oh my god. How much I dislike him. I could forgive that the writing isn't fantastic, since obviously he's a cop not a writer, and considering as well that many of these were originally verbally told or standalone stories, I could move beyond how many times the same joke or phrase is repeated. What I *can't* move beyond is how he treats women. I mean, this guy. He's just gross. And when I said this to my friend, he shrugged and said "That's just how guys are." I told him it still wasn't shit I wanted to hear, and that it's not necessarily how guys SHOULD be, just because the norm perpetuates something negative. So I am having a real hard time with this guy constantly talking about how he's passing time watching ladies in shorts run by, and ranking them with his buddy, and similarly pig-ish and misogynistic things to say. Couple that with aggressive conservatism, and this guy is just NOT for me. His stories might be interesting or moving to read, but when filtered through his brain and voice, I'm honestly forcing myself to continue it. We'll see if I just abandon it. When I start every new paragraph, page, and story, with my eyes narrowed in expectation of reading something that will turn me off... it gets old fast. Reading his stories are kind of making me see why my brother is constantly hating on cops a bit more....
The Last Guardian (Warcraft #3) by Jeff Grubb
WELL HOLY SMOKES. My fourth book in the Warcraft world, and my god every one is just as good as the last in a whole new way. This author is less polished than some of the others I've read, but he also used a lot of really strange archaic words to fit the era. I don't super love that, but I did love learning all these bizarre new words (cantrip, muzzy, eldritch, lapidarium, thaumaturgic... the list goes on!). Also a shoutout to my favorite description of anything: "with the sound of an egg imploding." Fascinating description. Absolutely NO IDEA what that would be.
For the story, absolutely loved it. It's rare that there's a twist or revelation that catches me off guard, but I was VERY unprepared for one of the primary explanations in this! Holy crap! It's so exciting to learn about the characters I've seen briefly, or heard an intriguing mention of. Every time I think, "Wow, I hope I get to hear that story sometime" it tends to be the next one that comes up! Wow. Yes. Love it. If you're into Azeroth at all, this series is so far holding really strong. Bringing much more depth as I play the game, as well.
Sunday, December 10, 2017
December 3 - December 9
One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak
I don't remember when I stumbled upon this, but it's been a while since I first heard of it and my interest was piqued. Of course I wanted to read what the actor who played the ambitious-but-useless-hipster-of-pretention character from The Office was actually capable of doing. And my conclusion is DAMN is he capable! This just makes it that much more hilarious that he's actually a fantastic and imaginative writer when his best known acting role is for someone who couldn't write (or do) anything. I don't often read short stories or collections, but I'm glad I made an exception for this! His style varies widely so you get a different experience every time. This was good because I always got something new and exciting, but sometimes I loved what I'd been given that I wanted to get more of it and see how it would work in other ways. Definitely highly recommended though, and especially for people who aren't really interested in reading. These are varying lengths for when you have time, keep you from getting too bored, and cover a huge range of topics to give enough choices that there should be at least one that catches someones eye.
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Okay, so it's a little weird that I went for this. I was honestly looking for a short audiobook on youtube that I could listen to while I had a fairly repetitive and lengthy task to accomplish at work. I ended up with my trusty Librivox version of The Art of War. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but the book is exactly what it says it is: a description of wars and how to win them. I definitely did NOT expect it to be so literal.
This is popular as a business-person high-risk-career book, and I'm not really sure why. Sure, some of the advice you can sort of translate to a fast-paced modern-day workplace, but when it starts discussing the best way to organize your carriages and what exact provisions to take to certain climates... well, maybe that's not so applicable anymore.
What irked me most was the startling naivete or ignorance of external factors. There are multiple statements made that I feel are unfair in their expectations and deliberately ignore the uncontrollable aspects of this world. For example, there was an aphorism that was, as closely as I can recall, "Do not make any mistakes and you will win the war." WELL... yeah. Obviously that's the goal. But if mistakes were that simple to avoid, they would never happen! Additional pieces of advice like "Don't let yourself get into an unfavorable position" are, again, really not that helpful and kind of annoyingly simple. No shit, Sun Tzu. If I do everything right, then I'll win. Definitely merits writing that down.
China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
The followup to the first book nominated for a 2017 Goodreads best book award, this book was a delight! I was impressed with the author's ability to parallel the first book comfortably while not just rewriting the same plot in a slightly different manner. The author gave us some issues that I was genuinely surprised by, but not because they weren't believable, but rather that they weren't predictable, which is super appreciated. All in all, very satisfying! I'll have to be patient until I can get the next one!
Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic by Meghan Ciana Doidge
I'm pretty sure I picked this book up for free in one of the weekly deals I receive, and it just kind of sat around waiting for a day when I ran out of all my other books. Well, I recently had to really hit the gas on what I was reading to meet my yearly goal and I figured this would be a quick, if not terribly great, read. I was definitely surprised by what I got, but that's probably because my expectations were pretty low. The morals in this book were perfectly gray, and I really appreciated that. There were some interesting new dynamics added to the usual lore characteristics of the supernatural (zombies are super strong and can pretty well take out a vampire? that's a new one to me). I just kind of plodded along with this, and while it was okay, I got to the end and thought "You know, I could just stop here." I wasn't really that excited to continue with these characters. And yet...
Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic by Meghan Ciana Doidge
I still picked up the next book pretty quickly for two main reasons: it was available at the library, and I was trying to meet my reading goal for the year. Not the best motivation, but whatever. It did take me a while to start this one though, too. There were some SERIOUSLY predictable moments that I was deflated by. Some standard cliches used. I really love when authors have the balls to kill a character and make them stay dead. But nope. Anyway, by the very end this actually did surprise me once, but the turn it took made me think that the next book will be radically different from what we've had... which doesn't really excite me. It's probably for the best, since what I've had hasn't really excited me either, but I have no idea if I'll ever actually continue this series. Maybe next December when I hit crunch time again.
I don't remember when I stumbled upon this, but it's been a while since I first heard of it and my interest was piqued. Of course I wanted to read what the actor who played the ambitious-but-useless-hipster-of-pretention character from The Office was actually capable of doing. And my conclusion is DAMN is he capable! This just makes it that much more hilarious that he's actually a fantastic and imaginative writer when his best known acting role is for someone who couldn't write (or do) anything. I don't often read short stories or collections, but I'm glad I made an exception for this! His style varies widely so you get a different experience every time. This was good because I always got something new and exciting, but sometimes I loved what I'd been given that I wanted to get more of it and see how it would work in other ways. Definitely highly recommended though, and especially for people who aren't really interested in reading. These are varying lengths for when you have time, keep you from getting too bored, and cover a huge range of topics to give enough choices that there should be at least one that catches someones eye.
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Okay, so it's a little weird that I went for this. I was honestly looking for a short audiobook on youtube that I could listen to while I had a fairly repetitive and lengthy task to accomplish at work. I ended up with my trusty Librivox version of The Art of War. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but the book is exactly what it says it is: a description of wars and how to win them. I definitely did NOT expect it to be so literal.
This is popular as a business-person high-risk-career book, and I'm not really sure why. Sure, some of the advice you can sort of translate to a fast-paced modern-day workplace, but when it starts discussing the best way to organize your carriages and what exact provisions to take to certain climates... well, maybe that's not so applicable anymore.
What irked me most was the startling naivete or ignorance of external factors. There are multiple statements made that I feel are unfair in their expectations and deliberately ignore the uncontrollable aspects of this world. For example, there was an aphorism that was, as closely as I can recall, "Do not make any mistakes and you will win the war." WELL... yeah. Obviously that's the goal. But if mistakes were that simple to avoid, they would never happen! Additional pieces of advice like "Don't let yourself get into an unfavorable position" are, again, really not that helpful and kind of annoyingly simple. No shit, Sun Tzu. If I do everything right, then I'll win. Definitely merits writing that down.
China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
The followup to the first book nominated for a 2017 Goodreads best book award, this book was a delight! I was impressed with the author's ability to parallel the first book comfortably while not just rewriting the same plot in a slightly different manner. The author gave us some issues that I was genuinely surprised by, but not because they weren't believable, but rather that they weren't predictable, which is super appreciated. All in all, very satisfying! I'll have to be patient until I can get the next one!
Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic by Meghan Ciana Doidge
I'm pretty sure I picked this book up for free in one of the weekly deals I receive, and it just kind of sat around waiting for a day when I ran out of all my other books. Well, I recently had to really hit the gas on what I was reading to meet my yearly goal and I figured this would be a quick, if not terribly great, read. I was definitely surprised by what I got, but that's probably because my expectations were pretty low. The morals in this book were perfectly gray, and I really appreciated that. There were some interesting new dynamics added to the usual lore characteristics of the supernatural (zombies are super strong and can pretty well take out a vampire? that's a new one to me). I just kind of plodded along with this, and while it was okay, I got to the end and thought "You know, I could just stop here." I wasn't really that excited to continue with these characters. And yet...
Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic by Meghan Ciana Doidge
I still picked up the next book pretty quickly for two main reasons: it was available at the library, and I was trying to meet my reading goal for the year. Not the best motivation, but whatever. It did take me a while to start this one though, too. There were some SERIOUSLY predictable moments that I was deflated by. Some standard cliches used. I really love when authors have the balls to kill a character and make them stay dead. But nope. Anyway, by the very end this actually did surprise me once, but the turn it took made me think that the next book will be radically different from what we've had... which doesn't really excite me. It's probably for the best, since what I've had hasn't really excited me either, but I have no idea if I'll ever actually continue this series. Maybe next December when I hit crunch time again.
Saturday, September 5, 2015
August 30 - September 5
Angelfall by Susan Ee
I realized that the final book in this series had come out, so I decided I would re-read it! I remember liking it a lot a year or so ago when I first stumbled upon it for free on Amazon. Who would have thought a free book would be so good? (Well, know I have several examples as to why that's a wrong though! Remember The Key?) So I re-read this in about a day as I was packing up for school and such. Pretty solid even still! Glad to remember that it held up. It made me laugh aloud several times, too. :)
World After by Susan Ee (book 2)
I remembered the second book less well for whatever reason, and daaaang did it get real! This was way darker than I remembered, complete with demonic baby sisters and flesh sacrifices, and horrific mutilation and disturbing psychological issues all around. Fun times! Not to mention the horrible depressing moments. Basically: a very good follow-up to the first.
End of Days by Susan Ee (book 3)
WHOOOOOOOO FINAL STAND! This book took me to hell and back, through the back of a demon. WELL DAMN. It was heartbreaking and gave some redemption to the bad guy. I love when books force the reader/characters to look at the situation and people from different perspecitves. Why is that guy so evil and miserable? Uh, well, actually, it's because you and all his friends abandoned him to eternity (basically) in hell. So that could really kill someone's kindness and all. I was pretty impressed with the talent show scheme at the end; that was really brilliant (literally, for the characters!) and touching and fun. And horrifying, of course. Susan did not skimp on the horror in the final book at all. In fact, she even set humanity up for the true apocalypse, complete with horrifying hell-monsters that are apparently going to lurk in the depths of the world until they decide to come back. The ties to the romance plot were meh, but that's not really what I cared about with this series. It was a unique dystopian kind of book that was written before this crazy dystopian fad became a thing. And having the monsters be angels? Well, okay, that just is not something I've ever read before. I'm super impressed with this series and admire Susan Ee for contemplating agnostic angels.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
I've had my eye on this since early this spring and finally got around to picking it up in the few open days I had between moving back up to school and actually starting classes. Basic summary: Cadence is part of this super rich, super white family. They vacation on a private island on the east coast of the US every summer. She hangs with her cousins and a friend that she has a sort-of relationship with and they have a grand old time. But then Cadence learns that this last summer she came to consciousness on one of the small beaches of the island in just her underwear/sleepwear with a vicious head injury that kept her from remembering anything. Her family keeps her away from the island for a summer, and when she gets back no one will tell her anything. Her grandfather destroyed the old house though, and built this sad cold building of glass in its place. She slowly remembers bits and pieces of what happened that summer, like the manipulation of the adults as they tried to each win a piece of their grandfather's estate after the grandmother died a few years back. **HUGE SPOILERS** Highlight to read! Cadence remembers that she and her cousins decided to teach them a lesson about being greedy by burning down her grandfather's house and all of the things that the parents were fighting over possession of. Okay, she's pretty cool with that (which is weird). But then she also realizes that they killed two of the family dogs in that fire because they forgot to let them out of the room they had been locked in when everyone went off the island (a result of their fighting). Cadence is freaking crushed because HOLY SHIT she killed two dogs, their dogs, her dogs, she burned them alive, she's basically a terrible person. She runs through the memory of setting the fire, the plan to each take a floor of the house and douse it with gasoline, light it up, and run like hell. To ditch their gasoline-covered clothes and claim ignorance from a sheltered area of the island. She remembers that she had the first floor, the ground floor. She lit it up too fast, ran out, ditched her clothes, didn't see anyone, ran back in a panic, got badly burnt, trapped her cousins in the house from her fire on the first floor, trapped them in the house with the dogs, they died, the cousins and boyfriend died and she killed them they all burned to death in a fire with their beloved grandmother's memories and their two beloved family dogs.
SHE KILLED HER COUSINS AND BOYFRIEND IN A FIRE.
**END SPOILERS**
Okay, so that was a lot, but I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!! I thought the dogs and the freaking ARSON were the big twists of whoa-ness not THAT! Wow. So I cried a lot as I realized what had happened. That's some hardcore real writing right there. I LOVED that this did not in any way have a happy ending. She states that she must endure knowing now what she knows, and knowing that her family kind of has an idea of what happened even if they don't want to face it, and knowing that the drinking and grief that has invaded the family is on her. It is.
Wow.
I realized that the final book in this series had come out, so I decided I would re-read it! I remember liking it a lot a year or so ago when I first stumbled upon it for free on Amazon. Who would have thought a free book would be so good? (Well, know I have several examples as to why that's a wrong though! Remember The Key?) So I re-read this in about a day as I was packing up for school and such. Pretty solid even still! Glad to remember that it held up. It made me laugh aloud several times, too. :)
World After by Susan Ee (book 2)
I remembered the second book less well for whatever reason, and daaaang did it get real! This was way darker than I remembered, complete with demonic baby sisters and flesh sacrifices, and horrific mutilation and disturbing psychological issues all around. Fun times! Not to mention the horrible depressing moments. Basically: a very good follow-up to the first.
End of Days by Susan Ee (book 3)
WHOOOOOOOO FINAL STAND! This book took me to hell and back, through the back of a demon. WELL DAMN. It was heartbreaking and gave some redemption to the bad guy. I love when books force the reader/characters to look at the situation and people from different perspecitves. Why is that guy so evil and miserable? Uh, well, actually, it's because you and all his friends abandoned him to eternity (basically) in hell. So that could really kill someone's kindness and all. I was pretty impressed with the talent show scheme at the end; that was really brilliant (literally, for the characters!) and touching and fun. And horrifying, of course. Susan did not skimp on the horror in the final book at all. In fact, she even set humanity up for the true apocalypse, complete with horrifying hell-monsters that are apparently going to lurk in the depths of the world until they decide to come back. The ties to the romance plot were meh, but that's not really what I cared about with this series. It was a unique dystopian kind of book that was written before this crazy dystopian fad became a thing. And having the monsters be angels? Well, okay, that just is not something I've ever read before. I'm super impressed with this series and admire Susan Ee for contemplating agnostic angels.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
I've had my eye on this since early this spring and finally got around to picking it up in the few open days I had between moving back up to school and actually starting classes. Basic summary: Cadence is part of this super rich, super white family. They vacation on a private island on the east coast of the US every summer. She hangs with her cousins and a friend that she has a sort-of relationship with and they have a grand old time. But then Cadence learns that this last summer she came to consciousness on one of the small beaches of the island in just her underwear/sleepwear with a vicious head injury that kept her from remembering anything. Her family keeps her away from the island for a summer, and when she gets back no one will tell her anything. Her grandfather destroyed the old house though, and built this sad cold building of glass in its place. She slowly remembers bits and pieces of what happened that summer, like the manipulation of the adults as they tried to each win a piece of their grandfather's estate after the grandmother died a few years back. **HUGE SPOILERS** Highlight to read! Cadence remembers that she and her cousins decided to teach them a lesson about being greedy by burning down her grandfather's house and all of the things that the parents were fighting over possession of. Okay, she's pretty cool with that (which is weird). But then she also realizes that they killed two of the family dogs in that fire because they forgot to let them out of the room they had been locked in when everyone went off the island (a result of their fighting). Cadence is freaking crushed because HOLY SHIT she killed two dogs, their dogs, her dogs, she burned them alive, she's basically a terrible person. She runs through the memory of setting the fire, the plan to each take a floor of the house and douse it with gasoline, light it up, and run like hell. To ditch their gasoline-covered clothes and claim ignorance from a sheltered area of the island. She remembers that she had the first floor, the ground floor. She lit it up too fast, ran out, ditched her clothes, didn't see anyone, ran back in a panic, got badly burnt, trapped her cousins in the house from her fire on the first floor, trapped them in the house with the dogs, they died, the cousins and boyfriend died and she killed them they all burned to death in a fire with their beloved grandmother's memories and their two beloved family dogs.
SHE KILLED HER COUSINS AND BOYFRIEND IN A FIRE.
**END SPOILERS**
Okay, so that was a lot, but I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!! I thought the dogs and the freaking ARSON were the big twists of whoa-ness not THAT! Wow. So I cried a lot as I realized what had happened. That's some hardcore real writing right there. I LOVED that this did not in any way have a happy ending. She states that she must endure knowing now what she knows, and knowing that her family kind of has an idea of what happened even if they don't want to face it, and knowing that the drinking and grief that has invaded the family is on her. It is.
Wow.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
July 12 - 18
The Giver by Lois Lowry
I received a copy of this book for my birthday, and I hadn't read it in yeeears (seem to have a pattern going here lately!). I took it to the beach for my birthday and read it right through. And oh wow, did I miss a lot the first time (again, a pattern...). Re-reading this was well worth the time, and I'm so excited to read Gathering Blue again too now, and read the final book for the first time. Can't wait!
Inheritance (Eragon #4) by Christopher Paolini
And of course, I did jump right into the last Eragon book! Powering through, powering through. Busy week though, so less time for reading than I had hoped!
I received a copy of this book for my birthday, and I hadn't read it in yeeears (seem to have a pattern going here lately!). I took it to the beach for my birthday and read it right through. And oh wow, did I miss a lot the first time (again, a pattern...). Re-reading this was well worth the time, and I'm so excited to read Gathering Blue again too now, and read the final book for the first time. Can't wait!
Inheritance (Eragon #4) by Christopher Paolini
And of course, I did jump right into the last Eragon book! Powering through, powering through. Busy week though, so less time for reading than I had hoped!
Friday, July 10, 2015
July 5 - 11
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
Okay, so, somewhere in the middle of this book is where I forgot about what happened in the story, to the point where I actually had no idea (mostly) what was going to happen. It made it so exciting! And I was totally sucked into the story all over again! For example, I remembered that the lady made him a sword even though she said she wouldn't. But I totally forgot how she got around that---so clever! And the name for it, and what the name does? I was so caught off guard, you'd think I had been holding it at that moment! Anyway, really solid, and I can't wait to finish off the series (again)!
Okay, so, somewhere in the middle of this book is where I forgot about what happened in the story, to the point where I actually had no idea (mostly) what was going to happen. It made it so exciting! And I was totally sucked into the story all over again! For example, I remembered that the lady made him a sword even though she said she wouldn't. But I totally forgot how she got around that---so clever! And the name for it, and what the name does? I was so caught off guard, you'd think I had been holding it at that moment! Anyway, really solid, and I can't wait to finish off the series (again)!
Friday, July 3, 2015
June 28 - July 4
Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Plowed through this one! I did get to the boring part about The Secret Lives of Ants that made me stop the first time I ever tried to read through this, and realized why I hated it so much: it's SOOO philosophical. Ugh. Pointless questions that can never be answered sometimes just don't need to be asked. Enjoy the mystery. Anyway, got past that and was pretty happy with the rest of the book. There honestly wasn't as much time in the elven forest as I remembered. It did have the political time with the Dwarves right before that though, so I'm sure for ten-year-old me, polotics to philosphy when I was used to magic and escapes was pretty difficult. Much better this time, though probably still not my favorite book of the series.
Plowed through this one! I did get to the boring part about The Secret Lives of Ants that made me stop the first time I ever tried to read through this, and realized why I hated it so much: it's SOOO philosophical. Ugh. Pointless questions that can never be answered sometimes just don't need to be asked. Enjoy the mystery. Anyway, got past that and was pretty happy with the rest of the book. There honestly wasn't as much time in the elven forest as I remembered. It did have the political time with the Dwarves right before that though, so I'm sure for ten-year-old me, polotics to philosphy when I was used to magic and escapes was pretty difficult. Much better this time, though probably still not my favorite book of the series.
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