There are unmarked spoilers for Shadowlands, book one, and marked spoilers for Hereafter.
When I read Shadowlands last year, I couldn't really say I waThere are unmarked spoilers for Shadowlands, book one, and marked spoilers for Hereafter.
When I read Shadowlands last year, I couldn't really say I was impressed with it. I loved the murder mystery but the characters were incredibly lacking for me and I couldn't really connect with any of them. While the characters slightly improved in Hereafter, the plot took a turn for the worse.
Shadowlands had an incredibly interesting plot, full of tension and mystery. Hereafter definitely suffers from Second Book Syndrome and honestly, the plot wasn't all that. It was good, but not great by any strech of the imagination. Not only was the big twist the most predictable one I've encountered in a very, very long time (I guessed it by chapter two), but the overall story just didn't grab me as much as the one in the first book.
I do have to say, though, Hereafter didn't have a bad story. At times, it was properly emotional and gripping. I was interested in the why of it all. However, all the girl-on-girl hate and lustful pining was just too much for me to properly enjoy it.
In the first book, the mystery second narrator was purposefully obvious, I think. In this book however, it was meant to be a surprise. As in, you weren't meant to immediately realise who it is due to how boringly obvious it was and the poor positioning of the mystery chapters. (view spoiler)[Really, placing one talking about how easy it is to fool people right after the big kiss? Really? (hide spoiler)]
All the tropes in one book were kind of astounding. There was the jealous 'slut' archetype, the MIA parent cliche, the cold sexy love interest - I could go on and on. It was clearly an excuse for Brian's lack of creativity in creating original characters.
After looking at the cover (I'm assuming it's her sister in the background), you'd think that she and the father would play a major role in the book. Especially, since (view spoiler)[she wouldn't have them for much longer (hide spoiler)]. But, no, not really.
She spends hardly any time with either of them, obviously much more interested in spending time with Tristan. I don't buy it. Her dad would be worried sick about her, especially because he thinks Steven Nell is out there. Would he really let his daughter spend practically all of her time out in the town, without any protection?
I don't know about you but I know my dad wouldn't let me.
Tristan was incredibly boring as a character and the romance between him and Rory was excruciating. Tristan had no chemistry with Rory and obviously didn't care at all about her. He was still in love with his old girlfriend and didn't seem to give a flying fuck about Rory. (view spoiler)[I know it was meant to be like that but c'mon, couldn't Brian have been just a little more subtle about it? (hide spoiler)]
The hate between Nadia and Rory was really stupid, honestly. Rory immediately took Nadia for a provocatively dressed, man-stealing bitch and Nadia hated Rory... because she was supposed to? I'm not sure what started this immense dislike for her, but dammit, Nadia hated Rory.
Rory's obsession with Tristan was just plain annoying to read. I don't like pining in my books and this was no different. Rory just wouldn't shut up about Tristan's sexiness or his amazing bod. I don't care, Rory. I don't care.
The mystery of the souls going to the wrong place was literally all Hereafter had going for it, and it did it fairly well. The tension was well done in places and I felt involved in the story (view spoiler)[,mostly when Rory's dad got taken. I expected it but it still pulled at my heartstrings. (hide spoiler)]
While I did enjoy reading it, Shadowlands was perfect as a stand-alone and maybe, you might just want to pretend this book didn't happen. I recommend this only to people who are invested in where the story goes, because otherwise, it's just not worth it....more
Startlingly original, Orleans brings a whole new take on the term "YA dystopian" or more accurately, brings the genre back to where it should be. InstStartlingly original, Orleans brings a whole new take on the term "YA dystopian" or more accurately, brings the genre back to where it should be. Instead of focusing on romance and destructive government schemes, Orleans concentrates on world building and plot progression.
The novel starts off with a punch, launching you directly into the gritty, dark world of Orleans where blood type determines everything and segregates the community due to the deadly Delta Fever. From very early on, it's easy to tell that the world building is most definitely Orleans' pride and glory.
The book starts off with an abrupt, yet fitting, introduction to how the world works without dumping it onto the reader. It tells of how much of the Gulf Coast was hit by numerous disastrous hurricanes and was quarantined after these disasters led to an even more dangerous plague. Now, the population of these areas is mostly living in tribes of blood type. Some 'types are more susceptible to the fever and attack other tribes for blood.
Smith's world is well fleshed out and beautifully constructed. It's not perfect; there are flaws and holes but for the most part, it's pretty nice. It's dark, grim, and, honestly, breath-taking. I am thoroughly impressed by Smith's brilliant approach and take on post-disaster Gulf Coast.
While the world building is fantastic, you can't help but marvel at the diversity of characters. It's neither a white dominated book, nor a black dominated one either. There's a vast diversity in ethnicity in the book. No one really cares too much about ethnicity anymore - as blood type is much more important.
The diversity is also quite subtle. It's not in your face like some authors do. Smith doesn't put "a African-American man" or "a Chinese woman" in ever sentence. It's subtle because, for the most part, the book is written in first person from the heroine, Fen La Guerre's perspective.
Why does this matter?
Fen was raised, for most of her life, in this disaster, this wasteland. She was raised to survive and that was all that mattered to her. Even if it doesn't seem like it, we're raised to identify differences in people. Toddlers can tell differences in ethnicity just because of how we were raised.
Now, to a girl who was raised with one objective, would the color of someone's skin really matter?
Fen is a really excellent heroine. Unlike many others, her character growth wasn't bogged down by romance. Her character really felt like she belonged in the book. Fen felt like a character who really could be living in this world - or more accurately, a person who could really survive in this world.
Armed with only her wit, Fen is somehow supposed to get a newborn baby that was entrusted upon her across the quarantine zone and into the proper United States. Fen doesn't take the task lightly, but that doesn't mean she's not human. At numerous points throughout the point, Fen plays with the thought of letting the baby go to save herself.
Later she meets David, a young scientist in his early twenties. They team up to get the baby across the zone, though each has their reasons. Fen helps David to help herself and David the same. While their relationship matures, it never becomes anything more than a tight bond.
While Fen and David were certainly good characters, they weren't very personal characters. They were characters that you admire from afar, not characters that you can empathize with. I liked their characters a lot but I found it near impossible to step into their shoes.
Overall, Orleans is a pretty good book. It's incredibly readable and the plot and world is very engaging. While it's not perfect in it's world building, plot, or characters, it's really good and I recommend it to anyone who is either sick and tired of dystopians revolving around romance and tyrannical governments or just looking for a good book....more
I tried really hard to like this, but I guess my bar is too high when it comes to mythology-based books. It's really awful of me but I can't help but I tried really hard to like this, but I guess my bar is too high when it comes to mythology-based books. It's really awful of me but I can't help but compare it to Riordan's series. Ok, I compare most books to Riordan's series, but it's especially hard to not compare this book to Riordan's series when the main character is practically Jason and there's a character named Reyna.
Loki's Wolves is basically a poor man's Percy Jackson. It's full of all the same clichés and tropes. The plots are extremely similar and even the characters are similar. However, in Percy Jackson, the characters are all treated equally instead of having a bunch of misogynistic assholes for main characters.
Norse mythology and culture isn't something I know a whole lot on but I know enough to pass. Vikings, which I'm assuming the characters descended from, were incredibly ahead of their time when it came to respecting women. Don't mess with a Viking woman, people. It's not going to go well.
Except, it seems that along the way, the characters totally forgot that their ancestors treated women with respect.
"You're just a girl."
He couldn't let her see he was scared. She was a girl. She had to be protected.
No, no thank you. You'd never see something like this in a Rick Riordan book. Just try to mess with demigod girls. You'll lose a hand.
Yes, the girl in the book did tell them to knock the heck off but that doesn't really make much of a difference. This book is directed at kids and the main characters are supposed to be people that kids can look up too. I don't want anyone looking at the two guys and think, "Well, if they can do it, I should be able to do it too."
I really expected this book to refrain from using my gender as not only a punch line but as a negative adjective throughout the book. Not cool Armstrong. Not cool at all. I don't know if the author was trying to make the female character sound strong by telling the boys to shut up but it didn't work. She told them to shut up once and spent the rest of the book doing nothing. That's not the way to do it at all.
The characters weren't really very developed, yet they were cute all the same. The descendant of Thor, Matt, was the archetype just, heroic boy who saves the world. But hey, who doesn't love these characters every once in a while? Fen was a bit of a jerk, to be honest. He got on my nerves a lot but he was funny and his inner conflicts were interesting. Laurie was really great but her character wasn't really elaborated on as much as I would have liked.
I appreciated the character growth the main characters went through a lot. I thought it was pretty well done and rivaled a lot of other novels that I've read.
I have to say that while very Percy Jackson-y, the story was really endearing. I enjoyed the characters interact, for the most part, and grow up a bit (some more than others). The fact that one of the main setting in the book is Deadwood made it even better.
Overall, I wasn't too fond of Loki's Wolves but it wasn't a bad book by any stretch. I enjoyed reading it a lot and would recommend it to people who can easily overlook the character tropes and cliches (and sexism). ...more
THE REGISTRY is a very complicated book, which, while very good in some aspects, fell just sort of the mark in others. There's no disputing that the wTHE REGISTRY is a very complicated book, which, while very good in some aspects, fell just sort of the mark in others. There's no disputing that the world presented by Stoker is a very interesting, and frightening, one. As many have done before her, Stoker took a very heated subject - sexism pertaining to women - and amplified the situation.
The world of THE REGISTRY is frightening with the blatant brainwashing that affects every character, no matter how strong and open-minded they are. Even our "strong" main characters fall victim to this brainwashing.
The US has become a complete patriarchy where the role of women is only child bearing, house work, and pleasure. The women of this dystopian world have been completely brain washed into thinking that this way of living is the perfect way, a life where they have no power over anything at all.
I can already see the people shouting: "This isn't that different than how some women live!" Yes, you're right to extent. But, not in the US. Uh no, the US of THE REGISTRY is not anything like what we live in since well, if you live in the US, can you write? Read? Do math? Count to ten? Have a job? Go to college? Refuse to get married? Speak your mind? Touch a member of the male sex - and not in that way?
The women of THE REGISTRY's US can't do any of the things mentioned. They can't even touch a man's hand because their husbands want them to be entirely pure. According to this book that all the women must live by (which is quoted in the beginning of Mia's chapters):
The greatest accomplishment a female can achieve is becoming a wife.
Women of this world are sold to the highest bidder, for thousands of dollars. They have appraisers, who quiz the girls on their cooking, cleaning, singing, baby-caring skills and then, once they've been appraised, they are sold. Sold.
The best part of the book has to be simply the US and the entirely male powered society. The book inside of the book (called The Registry' Guide for Girls) is very interesting, in a unsettling way. A few memorable quotes (note these quotes are from an ARC copy and are subject to change when the book is published).
When courting potential matches, no man wants a talkative lady. It is best for females to avoid speaking...
- 9% into the book
All fathers love their daughters. A daughter returns that love by obtaining a high marriage fee. Not only is a high appraisal price a point of pride, it is also a repayment for the money and time spent raising her.
- 13% into the book
A wife never inquired into her husband's background.
- 15%
It is common for wives to take on some traits of their husbands - after all, it is the woman's responsibility to know what her husband likes, in a order to please him - but a good wife will ensure she retains her delicate feminine traits.
Yeah, and that's just four of the dozens of notes I have for this book. DOZENS OF NOTES.
Now you may be thinking why I gave this book such a low rating and it's because well, it's boring. It shouldn't be, but it is. One of the main reasons this book is so boring is because the main character has no personality at all. She's just a sack of meat, to put it crudely.
Characters The main character, Mia, is probably the most emotionless character ever. She had no personality to be annoyed at, or love for that matter. I didn't - couldn't - see how she had the willpower to up and decide that she no longer wanted this life. It felt at times like she was just as brainwashed as her - who was utterly unbearable - even though Mia was supposed to be the one who isn't brainwashed much.
What I couldn't see at all was that Mia somehow convinced Andrew to leave his sexist, dominating ways because of how strong she was. Sure, she was strong enough to leave but after that, she didn't really do anything particularly strong.
Her one quality is how unbelievably self absorbed she is. She thinks practically everything is about her. I guess that was her "character flaw" but if you have one flaw and practically no personality, that doesn't work ever.
Whitney is horrible. I spent the entire book like this:
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She was whiny, annoying, and useless. The only reason she's in the book is because she was needed to show how super duper strong and brave Mia is. That's the only reason. Mia has to save her ass so many times because she's idiotic.
Andrew was pretty meh as a love interest and as a character. He spent half the book thinking "huh, I thought Mia would sit in a corner and cower pathetically but no! She can actually do stuff!". What? I know it's because how he was raised and how the society is but really? Does he have to stay misogynistic throughout the entire book?
Grant was fucking scary as a villain. He was probably the best character in the entire book. I don't have anything to say other than he made the book. He wasn't afraid to kill, lie, deceive, or plot which is different for YA since usually, the bad guys aren't this truly evil. They all have some sob story to go with but not this guy. No, he was just evil.
Plot and Writing Plot The story got tedious after a while. Basically, it was walk a bit, get caught/into tight situation, get out of it, and repeat. It was so boring after the first turnaround because the same plot aspects are not only repeated, they're not even changed up a little.
I really don't have much to say on the plot since it's obvious the author was more caught up in making the society than characters and plotting. While, she did a very good job in making a scary society but not that good of a job with characters, plot, or world building outside the US.
Writing My biggest problem with the writing is with world building. I don't even know what yearish this is set or what the world looks like at all. Is it in the future? How far? Ok, this war? What was it for? Who runs the US? Is it still a democracy? Why don't the other countries help the people in the US?
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Likes and Dislikes Likes - society - Grant
Dislikes - world building - characters - plot
Conclusion This book started off so well. I was sure that this would be a 5 star, but it's most definitely not - no matter how much I wish it were. This is most definitely not a book I'd recommend....more
THE BLOOD KEEPER is a book that started off smoothly and had everything I loved: blood magic, action, and mystery; however it didn't continue like thaTHE BLOOD KEEPER is a book that started off smoothly and had everything I loved: blood magic, action, and mystery; however it didn't continue like that. A few days after reading the initial hundred pages or so, I picked it up again and to my great disappointment, it soon felt like a completely new book.
This book is actually a sequel, something I didn't find out till a few moments before writing this review. I didn't even suspect it since this book felt like a standalone. From what I see, the first book has nothing to do with this book - please correct me if I'm wrong however.
There are three POVs in THE BLOOD KEEPER - Mab's, Will's and Evie's. Mab's POV and Will's POV are very similar, the only difference being Mab knows what she's doing and Will is basically doing what ever Mab wants. He's so infuriatingly spineless. He needs to be saved every few minutes and he never seems to stop fainting (ok, I'm exaggerating - I think he only fainted once or twice).
Evie's POV is set a few decades in the past, I think 1920s. I think it is meant to be a surprise why it was linked to the story but it was all quite predictable. However, I still enjoyed the short story that the POV told, finding it darker than the rest of the book.
While I have no problem with YA romance - or romance in general - I do hate when the romance seems to govern the plot, like in this book. The romance seems to overtake anything, including the interesting blood keeper concept, which is why I loved the first 100 pages so much more than the rest of the book.
Characters Mab is the Blood Keeper, which basically means she maintains the land around her with her blood magic which is cool and all but she doesn't really do that in the book. She mostly dreams about Will and saves him and possesses people (actually that's pretty cool).
Will is the one of the weakest heroes ever. He doesn't do anything. I don't like heroes who can do anything but I sort of prefer them to do something other than ask Mab what to do. I think he's like that so the Gratton can say "wow look at me, my heroine is so strong. Flipping around gender stereotypes, yes sir." I'm sorry but it doesn't work like that.
Will's only strength is his amazing ability to whine and whine and never stop whining. Practically the whole book was spent whining about how is parents want him to join the military and how he doesn't want to and how they're like totally not understanding.
Dude, I get it, you don't want to join the military and I fully understand and appreciate that but in case you haven't noticed, something really bad is going on and I don't think whining about your evil parents is the right thing to do right now.
The romance between the two happens to be the worst part about it. Scenario:
Will and Mab are talking about how horrible what's going on is. Will then think about how much he wants to kiss her. Switch to Mab's point of view and she's pretty much thinking the same thing. After longing looks are exchanged, they go back to talking about how dire the circumstances are.
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The saddest thing is that this scenario happens all the time in the book. I swear, it happens at least five times. Romance = good. Romance at the wrong time = very bad.
Plot and Writing Plot The concept of blood magic which is tied to the land instead of the as an antithesis to nature is an interesting take on the subject. Most authors go with the conventional blood magic is evil thought, which I have to admit I was part of. I never really thought of blood magic as tied to the land, the animals, and life, which makes complete sense if you think about it.
As you have seen, I loved the concept. Blood magic in YA fantasy is almost unheard of, or at least not all the common. Though I would hate it become the new dystopian (I highly doubt it will), I'm glad to see that blood magic is popping into YA lit.
My major qualm with THE BLOOD KEEPER is the lack of defined plot after a certain point. Though you can always tell what the main plot is, it seems like the characters are more focused on how beautiful the other one looks at the moment.
Once again, I will say that I have no problem with romance in my books, but when either the romance takes over the plot or interjects itself into the scene at the weirdest moments I don't want it in my books. At all. Ever.
Writing While it wasn't terrible, I was extremely annoyed at the lack of word building. Mab spent most of her time in a forest - or is it a valley? And where? It's obviously close to a biggish city where Will lives but if Will goes there to swim or something, does that mean anyone could go there? It seems like it's too open for a place with secret witches...
Likes and Dislikes Likes: - Blood Magic - The Beginning
Dislikes: - Everything Else
In conclusion THE BLOOD KEEPER had a very promising concept but sadly, the execution was lacking extensively. I am very sad to say that I cannot recommend this book to anyone.
While looking through the numerous reviews for THE RULES, I came about a review calling this "THE HUNGER GAMES meets THE HOST". I found thOh... eurgh.
While looking through the numerous reviews for THE RULES, I came about a review calling this "THE HUNGER GAMES meets THE HOST". I found this hard to believe since pretty much every book is marketed as THE HUNGER GAMES nowadays. But, hey, she had to have come from somewhere right?
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Yeah... no. Not at all. I don't think I'll ever get how this is close to THE HUNGER GAMES, or THE HOST for that matter, unless they suddenly morphed into a teen drama sitcom contemporary with alien elements. Ok, so I get THE HOST (well, not really). THE HOST has aliens and THE RULES has aliens. But what about THE HUNGER GAMES?
Did THE RULES turn into a book about an arena where teenagers kill each other for foodfun because they're forced to? Yeah, must've missed that memo and obviously I didn't read this book very well.
The real plot has absolutely nothing to do with THE HUNGER GAMES or THE HOST. It's about a girl, whose DNA had been mixed with some alien DNA in a genetics lab, where she was created. She grew up in a very sheltered world (pun intended) and apparently took all our slang/phrases literally.
What I really hated about this book is that the summary gives the impression that the story is sort of like the Maximum Ride series. The beginning of the book was. Ariane's guardian was sort of like the kids' guardian in the first book ((view spoiler)[Max's father (hide spoiler)]
Then, it stops being like that and starts to fall under the trap most of the books I read do. They turn into teen dramas, which is something I have very little interest in.
Maybe this teenage drama with a tiny hint of paranormal appeals to people, and at times it does to me. Yes, I know I'm contradicting myself but well done high school dramas with an awesome plot, characters and a hint of paranormal can be really good.
This book had neither a great plot nor an amazing cast of characters.
Characters If there is one aspect of THE RULES that really stands out to me, it is Ariane and her lack of personality. She's so infuriatingly bland, it's crazy.
Ariane was so... BELLA. She doesn't ever do anything, well other than fawn over the love interest, Zane Bradshaw who she can't have because y'know Romeo and Juliet. Much of the book is her swooning over Zane and acting like a freaking idiot in front of him because that's what girls do.
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Why does every author think this? I don't have much any experience with this but I'm pretty sure you don't fall on people when you have a crush. Stuttering every damn word? Probably not every word. Blush like your face is on fire? Maybe but I just don't see every girl doing that especially the "strong, brave" ones.
I don't even know why I try anymore. It seems like I can't find a well-rounded, badass heroine or hero anymore. It's either a meh or an I'm going to kill you one.
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Why does this happen to me? What did I do to deserve all these terrible heroines and heroes? I demand an answer!
This is not fair.
Alright, rant over...
Zane was pretty forgettable. It took me all day just to remember his name. He's that classic nice guy which basically means he's sweet but has no real personality. His POV was mostly him fawning over Ariane, who he can't have because apparently Ariane's dad (guardian) works for a place that Zane's dad hates.
No, I'm serious.
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Plot* The plot is boring, very boring. I was not very attached to the story. It relied on the old plot ideas, some of which include evil mean girl who hates the main character, nice boy who everyone loves even though his BFF is evil girl, and loner girl with no friends.
Though the story wasn't really bad, it just wasn't either interesting or engaging. I didn't connect with the story except when (view spoiler)[there was a scene where Ariane was forced to kill her pet rat :( (hide spoiler)] which made me feel really bad for Ariane.
I wish that the whole "being half alien" thing was more prominent in the story. It was very much a side thing, something that wasn't too important other than being a reason for Ariane to be a loner. I just thought it would be a bigger thing in the book. FALSE ADVERTISING.
Likes and Dislikes Likes: - ALIENS
Dislikes: - Plot - Characters
In conclusion I was really disappointed in this book. I'm the black sheep with this book though, so maybe you'll like it but I can't recommend it to you.
*The writing segment has been skipped since this review is a month late and I don't remember :( ...more
QUICK SYNOPSIS WARM BODIES is a pretty nice read. It's definitely not a perfect book, nor worth the hype surrounding it. I exActual Rating: 2.75 stars!
QUICK SYNOPSIS WARM BODIES is a pretty nice read. It's definitely not a perfect book, nor worth the hype surrounding it. I expected way more from the book and I think that's the main reason that I didn't love it as much as I thought would. The hype made my expectations skyrocket and as usual, I was disappointed.
UPS - R - Writing
DOWNS - R - Julie - Preaching
REVIEW This book is full of itself. I swear that this book thinks that it’s the shit. The book is utterly insufferable in that regards. It had a very elitist attitude, if we're going to assign anthropomorphic qualities to this darling book (that sounds like something that would be said in this book TBH). It's the douche that thinks it's better than everyone because it reads Shakespeare and Tolstoy for fun.
WARM BODIES is a metaphor for the 21st century and how utterly horrible it is. WHY I HATE THE 21st CENTURY would also have worked as the title for the book. To be honest, I'm entirely okay with books that are metaphors but I'd like the metaphor to be subtle. When you pretty much shout it at the reader, it looses its impact. The whole book was filled with passages like this:
We were fearful in the best of times; how could we cope with the worst? So we found the tallest walls and poured ourselves behind them. We kept pouring until we were the biggest and strongest, elected the greatest generals and found the most weapons, thinking all this maximalism would somehow generate happiness. But nothing so obvious could ever work. (page 148)
and this:
We're corralled in the stadium with nothing to think about but surviving to the end of the day. No one writes, no one reads, no one really talks. We don't have flowers anymore. Just crops. (page 71)
Perhaps part of Marion hates about the 21st century is the fact that you cannot write a book like this anymore. You just can't. WARM BODIES was lucky to make it big time but for the most part, it is impossible to make a widely successful YA book that is a METAPHOR.
That aside, WARM BODIES is still a good book. It's not amazing like I thought it would be. I don't think it could've gotten more than a weak 3 star rating if the preaching had been taken out. It could have gotten a much higher rating if I got what I was promised: a gruesome and poetic book.
I can see where this "poetic" part is coming from but gruesome? Nuh-uh. This is light stuff. There's no ick factor or weird zombie gruesomeness. There's definitely some zombie violence but it's neither graphic nor scary.
But, you can't judge a book by its lack of gore. You can however judge a book by its characters. R the zombie is our main character. His thoughts were surprisingly really interesting. I didn’t expect that at all. For the most part, his thoughts were interesting and thought provoking. I admit he some times too philosophical. I don't think any 20-year-old contemplated life on a daily base. Not to mention this:
I wobble into the bathroom and lean my forehead against the wall in front of the urinal. I unzip, and I look down, and there it is. That mythical instrument of life and death and first-date backseat fucking.
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Don't know about you guys, but I highly doubt that a penis could kill anyone. Or can it?
R's sort of a loner. He's also a possessive arse - yeah, let's not forget about that. He also saves kidnaps the love interest, Julie. (view spoiler)[He ate Julie's boyfriend. By that I mean, he literally ate Julie's boyfriend. (hide spoiler)] He also lets Julie go back, "freeing" her, and then he follows her all the way to her home. But he likes Sinatra and Lennon so we're all good.
I'm not saying that R is the worst protagonist ever. He's cute and funny at times. He's got some really amazing moments but I definitely do not see why he's in people's Top Ten Book Boy Friends.
What keeps people fairly interesting in the real world? It's really obvious. In real life, people don't have one personality feature. There's always more to them. People are multidimensional. They have feelings. That's one thing that some authors can't do. Characters are either entirely missing a personality or they have one feature that OVERWHELMS EVERYTHING. THIS ONE PERSONALITY FEATURE YELLS AT THE READER, "DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME. I AM [insert word]!!!1!!!".
This. Is. Not. Natural.
Julie was one of those characters. She's brave and that's it. She's got girl balls because she can live in zombitopia without being eaten. She's obviously intelligent but this isn't really a personality his is the end of her intended personality.
Julie is very idiotic at times. When (minor spoiler) (view spoiler)[R admits to eating her boyfriend, she's says something like: "It's ok my darling R, I'm sure he wanted to die."
Who says that? He was your boyfriend. (view spoiler)[I don't care if he was cheating on you. He was still one of your friends. If my neighbor was eaten by a zombie, even though I don't ever talk with her, I wouldn't be indifferent! (hide spoiler)](hide spoiler)]
Julie has no real personality. She was just the girl that R loved (for some strange reason). I think she was meant to signify something but honestly, I have nothing. For someone to signify something, the person needs something more than a name.
It's sort of a must.
The writing is definitely the main selling point to WARM BODIES. To an extent, it lives up to what I thought it would be. WARM BODIES is beautifully written. It truly is. WARM BODIES is a type of book that you want to read every single line thoroughly.
However, this comes at a price. Too much of a good thing is never good. The amount of symbolism and philosophical thoughts was nauseating because there was just too much of it. I like symbolism and philosophical musing but I do have a cut off point. When interesting thoughts turn into preaching about how horrible the 21st century is, I loose interest in the book.
Overall, WARM BODIES is a fairly interesting book that I do think you should read. It's not a must read for the decade or even the year. WARM BODIES is simply an interesting book that will entertain you through a lazy afternoon. ...more
This review will hold spoilers but none that you won't find in any of the other "spoiler" reviews for this book. If you do not WEIRD PREREVIEW THINGIE
This review will hold spoilers but none that you won't find in any of the other "spoiler" reviews for this book. If you do not want to know about what the big twist is (which is actually revealed around 25 - 30% in), I suggest you skip this review as the spoilers for that will not be marked. The spoilers begin in the next paragraph.
Personally, I feel like this "twist" should have been stated in the actual description. I would have been 100x more excited for this book, if I knew about the twist. In the description, it says:
Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.
When I, like many other reviewers, first read this, I saw one thing: Gene x Micah. But the truth is, even though there is romance, it is not between Gene and Micah since they're, um, the same person. The protagonist is intersex. I really think that if this was in the description, it would be more popular because I'm sure there are others out there who wanted to read a YA book with an intersex protagonist.
I honestly do not understand why this is a secret since anyone who is paying a little bit of attention to the book would be able to realize this. Gene has not only similar physical qualities but the two "POVs" are pretty much the same.
For a more in-depth assessment on why this "twist" should have been in the description read Experiment BL626's insightful review on why he thinks the same. Though I do not agree with every point, I do agree with many of them!
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ACTUAL REVIEW THINGIE
PANTOMIME is a book that I've wanted to read ever since I first saw it on Cuddlebuggery. I got an ARC a long time ago but for some reason I could never get into it. It didn't help that I got the ARC during a bad time where I didn't - couldn't - read anything.
But, when I finally got into a few days ago and finished it in a few hours like I always do in these stories.
PANTOMIME isn't the best book I've ever read. Something was missing throughout but I still enjoyed it very much. The best part of the novel, personally, is Micah, the main character. His troubles with his sexuality and identity were definitely my favourite part of the book.
Characters Micah Grey, or Gene I suppose, is the intersex protagonist. Micah Grey is strong, smart, and just all-around amazing. I absolutely love him. The main focus of the novel is around Micah and his struggles with who he is.
At times, the book could go very deep and get very depressing for a YA fantasy read. The only deepness I've seen in most YA fantasy is well... nothing. YA seems to save all the deep reads for contemp. reads. I felt really connected to Micah in this book, something that doesn't happen often - in any genre.
The supporting characters, Drystan and Aenea, were Micah's best friends also doubling as LIs. Though the romance is not the main focus of the book, there is a lot since the book revolves around sexuality and love, to a lesser but still prominent extent. Personally, I didn't mind this love triangle because it was barely portrayed as a love triangle, and by that I mean, Micah was not internally debating who he loved. *cough* Team Drystan *cough*
My favorite character, excluding the obvious Micah, was probably this one little side character who only had a few lines and pages. It was the little shopkeeper or stall keeper who took Micah in after he had run away. I don't know why I liked him, I just did.
Plot and Writing Plot PANTOMIME is a very character based book, as YA books are slowly starting to do. The plot isn't very big. Micah isn't some mystical person, no one has supernatural powers, and there isn't a war. It's kind of hard to imagine but it's true.
There are a few hints of some more prominent plot in the second book, probably going to be about this ancient extinct race of Chimaera, who have a great magical power and this Vestige thing. *weird geeky reference warning* They sort of reminded me of the Dwemer from the TES series - in a good way of course.
The setting sort of reminded me of NIGHT CIRCUS but it was much less magical. PANTOMIME didn't have that mystical, magical feeling to it where it felt like Les Cirque des Rêves could be right outside your door.
Writing It wasn't the most lyrical writing ever but for the book, it fit. It was emotional and expressed Micah's thoughts very clearly and well. I don't really have much to say on the writing since it was fairly average but not bad. No, the writing was very nice just I'm sure there could be... more.
In conclusion Beautifully created, PANTOMIME is a masterpiece, which I full heartedly adore. The only thing keeping me from giving it a nice shiny five star rating is that I felt PANTOMIME was missing something. I'm not exactly sure what it is but it sure wasn't there. Still, I recommend this book to everyone and anyone.
I don't know what happened with me and Monstrous Beauty. We just didn't click at all. I understand why people like the book but I just don't feel it. I don't know what happened with me and Monstrous Beauty. We just didn't click at all. I understand why people like the book but I just don't feel it. Yes, the book is beautifully written but it's also just kinda... boring. Nothing really happens in the book except for different people feeling bad for themselves and people getting torn up.
While I understand the allure of the book, of the writing, I can't help but notice all the flaws and faults. The beautiful words and imagery are masking some pretty big faults like the fact that the book for the most part isn't really well executed.
The flow of the book was very poor and clunky, and the book moved at such a slow pace that it had trouble holding my attention. It tried to do something special with two different POVs that seem different but come together but it failed mostly due to the fact that the transitions were shit.
Beautiful writing is great but it doesn't make up for having an otherwise pretty average novel. The writing sort of convinces you that Monstrous Beauty is a really amazing book, all around. But the truth is the only thing really spectacular about Monstrous Beauty is the writing.
There were two main characters, the first of which is Syrenka the killer mermaid. She's absolutely awesome, for the most part. I really loved her chapters because they were full of mermaid badassery. Who doesn't like dark mermaids anyway? While her romance was really weak, surprisingly it didn't detract too much from her POV.
What made Syrenka truly awesome was how she was a very real character. Under all her beauty and mystery is a truly flawed character with very human characteristics. Syrenka wasn't the all perfect character. I don't know how to describe her. She was magical and ethereal without being 'perfect'.
The second character is Hester. She's a human with a 'mysterious family curse', which to an extent was interesting. I guess. I mean, it wasn't all that absorbing but it wasn't completely a bore. What was boring about her chapters was instead how they were written.
While Hester wasn't a bad character, she was a very emotionless character that left it hard to really root for her.
Hester's chapters had none of the deep, dark beauty of Syrenka's. You go from a chapter written with the most beautiful language, something that can only be described as sensuous, to a chapter written like an average book. It makes sense that I didn't love her chapters. Maybe I would have appreciated them more if they weren't after Syrenka's but that's just not something you can change.
Monstrous Beauty was a very gritty and dark mermaid story with rape, murder, and gore. It's definitely not for the weak of heart. I really loved the brutality of the story. Fama definitely spent most of her efforts on plot execution instead of other things.
While personally I can't say I liked Monstrous Beauty, I can't say that I don't recommend it you read it because it's a very unique experience that should be experienced. ...more
Wow. I am really speechless. I didn't like the first two books so I was hesitant to pick this one up (read: I waActual Rating: 3.5 rounded up to four.
Wow. I am really speechless. I didn't like the first two books so I was hesitant to pick this one up (read: I waited till it was overdue to read it). But, holy shit, when I did? I am now a strong believer in insta-book-love.
All my earlier problems are still here (Elder, idiocy, Elder, more idiocy) but it got better! One of the reasons that this book is 100% awesome than the previous two books is probably because well, they finally landed on Centauri-Earth.
This may not excite everyone but personally, I couldn't tear myself away from SHADES OF EARTH. It was just too fascinating. I mean, they're on another planet!
Other than my character-centered problems, I have one huge problem that isn't that easily overlooked. Idiocy and inconsistencies. I'll be going through my notes here (yeah, got all fancy with notes and stuff).
If you remember, in SHADES OF EARTH, the people of Godspeed finally decided to land on Centauri-Earth which means melting the frozen people to get them out of cryosleep.
When they do, predictably, they are quite confused over why these people of the Godspeed have leaders and aren't the Sol-Earthians slaves. It's all quite amusing, the little power struggles but when they semi-figure things out, everything is really crazy.
After some terrible happenstances, Amy becomes "acting commander of the Godspeed mission".
Amy.
AMY THE SIXTEEN YEAR OLD IS IN CHARGE.
Why? I'm pretty sure in military doesn't work like that. The whole bleeping concept of "military" is chain of command. A sixteen year old, no matter that (view spoiler)[she's the daughter of the commander who died (hide spoiler)], would become acting commander unless the strict militariness of the military has devolved into a primitive war group.
My next problem with idiocy is these supposed "intelligent scientists types". So, this one scientists is excitedly telling Amy:
"It should be impossible. I talked to Frank, the geologist. He says there are minerals in the soil he's never seen before. We're talking about whole new elements to the periodic table!" - page 190.
Um, no. Sorry but if you're on another planet, why would you add the elements of this planet to the periodic table of Earth, another planet. What? No, that's not how it works. I would think that you would make a new periodic table, not add onto a Earth periodic table, full with elements that may not even be on this planet.
But, hey, what do I know? I'm not a scientist.
Inconsistency one: Amy seems to love Centauri-Earth in one chapter and detest it in another. I don't think your emotions can zip around like that every few minutes/hours. Weeks? I suppose but minutes? Nope, sorry.
The rest of my notes are centered on character problems.
Characters- Let's start with Elder and why I want him to go jump off a space ship. If you've read the previous two books, which I'm going to assume you have for the rest of the review, you'll know that Elder unhooked Amy from the cryochamber or whatever they're called in this. The unhooking almost killed her and after she recovers, he pretends he doesn't know how she woke up early. His reasons for unhooking her? He was horny.
No, I'm not kidding. The reason Elder unhooked Amy from her cryochamber was because he was horny and wanted to make out with her but was thankfully nice enough not to rape her while she was sleeping. In this case, I'm using "nice" lightly.
He’d also possessive, jealous, and assuming. Amy goes out with a guy and immediately Elder thinks that Amy is cheating on him and that they’re going out to make out. He then sneaks up on them right when this guy forces himself onto Amy and Elder’s like “OMG she’s kissing him and cheating on meh!”
He only accepted the fact that she wouldn’t cheat on him after she pushes him off of her.
W-WHAT
Elder somehow couldn’t see the fact that Amy was completely devoted to him, so much so that they (view spoiler)[had had sex the night before and everyone knows, in most of YA sex means that they love each other unconditionally and will end up together (hide spoiler)].
Amy is fairly mediocre as a character. Though she’s not extremely stupid, she’s not exactly bright. She’s not witty or loveable. She’s just sort of there, for better or worse.
In terms of intelligence, everything is weird. She’s not the stupidest heroine I’ve ever read about but then again, she’s pretty irresponsible and seems to have something against thinking situations out.
Though this example is stupid on both Elder’s and Amy’s part, it’s a fine example of how much Amy thinks. Elder brings her a bunch of flowers, native to this new and exotic planet. What does Amy do? She sticks her nose in it and passes out because of some neurotoxins.
I suppose this is a case of plot needed stupidity but I’m sure Revis could have found another way to introduce the plants, as they are important to the storyline. Instead of thinking about how to introduce them, she just slaps them in, making her intelligent character unbelievably dumb.
Another prominent character who I find that I need to go over specifically is Chris, the seemingly mild mannered friend of Amy. For the first ¾, it seems like his only purpose in life is to make Elder and Amy’s relationship strain. That’s seriously how he’s treated.
He obviously lusts over Amy and is very close to her. Somehow, she doesn’t see his blatant flirting (view spoiler)[till it’s too late and he forces himself on her (hide spoiler)]. Elder immediately sees his flirting and turns into Even-More-Possessive-and-Jealous-Elder.
I absolutely detest characters whose only reason for being in the story (well, that’s not exactly true for Chris but it’s very near that) is to cause trouble in the main character’s romance. It’s a cheap way out.
The many of the other characters were sadly what I predicted them to be. In ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, you can immediately tell that, by Amy’s extreme love, her father would be a complete asshole - which he was. By her lack of thought towards her mother, it was obvious she would be a minor character without any real definition - which she was.
Not many of the side characters were especially memorable but I don't think they were bad. It's just that the book was mostly focused on Elder, Amy, Amy's Dad, and Chris.
Plot and Writing Plot As I said, I love the concept. Other planets in one topic we are severely lacking in YA lit. Novels set on other planets are more common but the whole “humans traveling to another planet” idea is much more rare. Lately, a lot of aliens on Earth YA books have been popping up but I honestly prefer the we-are-the-aliens books.
I have laugh at SHADES OF EARTH for being entirely hilarious with the presentation of the aliens. Apparently, they're the bad guys, not the people who are taking over their goddamn planet. It's so stereotypical really. Practically every alien book and movie in existence follows this humans-are-always-the-good-ones storyline.
The story isn't bad, if extremely predictable. (view spoiler)[The moment signs of human technology appeared, I immediately knew that another human colony had landed on Centauri-Earth and had been somehow mutated into these "monsters" that Orion had talked about. I was right. (hide spoiler)] After they started finding the "things" I could tell the plot. I mean, ohmygod, was it predictable? Everything came true.
However, even though it doesn't sound like it at all, I loved the story. I didn't really care that I knew what was going to happen. I really ate SHADES OF EARTH up. I wish that the previous books were this amazing, but I guess you can't have it all.
Writing While it's not elegant, or anything near elegant, Beth Revis's writing is most certainly exciting and addicting. I decided to read the first chapter before returning it but in what seemed like a few minutes, I had read a quarter of the book and didn't want to stop.
Likes and Dislikes Liked: - The Setting - The Writing - The Plot
Disliked: - All the problems with stupid phrases and plot points - The Plot - Elder - Lame characters
In conclusion Though Revis needs to work out the inconsistencies with the plot and characters (not to mention, do her homework on how periodic tables work), I just adore this book. I don't think it's perfect, but it's pretty awesome still. I recommend SHADES OF EARTH, and the whole Across the Universe series, as a good no-brainer read.
I'm guessing that you chose c because that is the logical answer. PARANOWas your favorite part of PARANORMALCY
a) the romance b) the writing c) the humor
I'm guessing that you chose c because that is the logical answer. PARANORMALCY was a hilarious fluffy and immature read. The book's strength was most definitely not the writing or the romance. The writing, to be honest, was pretty mediocre. The only thing that really made the book shine was its humor.
Now, imagine PARANORMALCY except with mind reading assassins, a darker tone, and without all the humor. This book be potentially really awesome if White's writing style had improved and changed for the book. Her writing remained the same, which did not fit the book at all.
The book's first draft was written in nine days. Some people it work but others... can't. The biggest drawback to the book is its absolutely horrid writing. The two POVs were written in a way that makes it feel like you'rereadingallthewordsinonespurt. One of the narrators, Fia, is especially bad about this. She's also got the attention span of a my dog.
I wish we were at a deli, eating and laughing, and feeding Chloe. I miss Chloe. I wish she were my dog and I had an alcoholic father and I were the type of girl that Adam could date and rescue and fall in love with. I wish my left arm didn't hurt so much I wanted to die, because it also means I can't tap tap tap my leg, without that fidget I don't know how to stop the thoughts and feelings flooding through me.
There is so much going on in that one paragraph that it's hard to concentrate. I know why it was written in this fashion but I felt that instead of adding to the story, it only detracted from it. It was done so poorly that it was a complete immersion breaker instead of something to improve the book as a whole.
Fia's POV was pretty much a jumbled mix of CAPS LOCKS and run on thoughts. I spent a lot of her POVs trying to figure out what the fuck is happening. It was so confusing. There were random thoughts interrupting other thoughts and lots of uppercase for no apparent reason.
[image]
Another immersion breaker was the fact that there was absolutely no explaining done in the book. In books, you usually know a few things like where the world is set or how it functions. But in MIND GAMES, I had no clue.
The reader had no idea where or when this book was set. The whole concept of "powers" was confusing and I didn't quite understand it. Most of my confusion was do to the shoddy writing and fast pace of the novel.
This became a huge problem, as I couldn't understand anything at all. (view spoiler)[The ending was supposed to be very emotional but I just didn't know what was happening. I think Annie sacrificed herself but I really don't know. The bad guy's motives were about as clear as a muddy pond. (hide spoiler)] I think there was this society that was out to get the school for people with powers. Fia's boyfriend - or was he her boyfriend? - had this evil dad or something. To be honest, I spent most of the book like this:
[image]
The problem I had with the characters was that they were very underdeveloped and I felt no emotional connection to them. Fia and Annie were in constant danger, yet it didn't feel like it in the slightest. I was never actually concerned for the characters. Fia and her addictions were very contrived and lifeless and Annie was so bland that I couldn't really care about her at all.
The saddest part of all was the wasted potential. The book could have been something truly spectacular but instead, it ended up being a bar short of the mark. MIND GAMES is occasionally entertaining and it certainly kept me turning the pages. The negatives outweighed the positives however and left me with a disappointing read. I don't recommend reading and I really don't think I'll read the second book....more
Lisbeth Avery {Domus Libri}
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