Lyra’s Oxford is the pocket-sized book containing the short story Lyra and the Birds, and it a sequeSee and more on !
Lyra’s Oxford is the pocket-sized book containing the short story Lyra and the Birds, and it a sequel to His Dark Materials, taking place roughly two years after the events in The Amber Spyglass. The book also contains other material that is somewhat relevant � a postcard from Mary Malone, advertisements and pages from a glossary among others . In the short story, Lyra now splits her time between her school St Sophia’s, where she is learning to read the alethiometer through experience and wisdom, not grace, and Jordan college, her home. When a witch’s demon comes begging for Lyra’s help, how can she resist?
I really liked this short story. When I read it years ago I don’t think I really understood it, and it seemed almost pointless. Now that I’m older I see the point: Lyra is learning to read everything, the world around her, and people, not just the alethiometer. The story smacks of Lyra’s ‘special snowflake� status as wild birds react in very un-wild ways around her, but it adds to the point that Lyra’s growing up and her wisdom is growing as well. She’s not just the street smart barbarian anymore, but growing into a competent young woman. Pullman spends a lot of time describing Lyra’s Oxford, which I really like as well.
Obviously this book had a lot of potential, what with it being about cute puppies and including pictSee and more on !
Obviously this book had a lot of potential, what with it being about cute puppies and including pictures on every page. It could have been a whole lot more imaginable if, for instance, the words were written first and then a suitable photograph was found. Instead, it’s obviously written the other way around (photos first, then ‘cute� things puppy would say). Unfortunately it’s also a misleading title because it’s not just things puppies might say, but quotes about dogs as well. Add into this that more than half of the photos are taken from Shutterstock and I simply can’t believe that much effort was put into this book.
It’s fiction! It’s humour! I know some people will yell. Yes, but that doesn’t mean it has to simply collect things in the public domain. Anyone could have written this book, and it is a very poor reflection of its author....more
The Amber Spyglass is the third and final book in the His Dark Materials trilogy and tells the closiSee and more on !
The Amber Spyglass is the third and final book in the His Dark Materials trilogy and tells the closing chapter of Lyra and Will’s tale � and also that of Dr Mary Malone, a few random miniature spies that ride dragonflies, Mrs Coulter and Lord Asriel, a pair of gay angels, and a priest who sets off to murder Lyra. It’s a big cast, but that’s okay, because it’s an epic fantasy.
It’s a huge story, and frustrating at first because the whole thing is handed over to Will, our resident Gary-Stu who is amazing at everything and a perfect match for Lyra. Our formerly kick-ass barbarian child is in an enforced slumber courtesy of Mrs Coulter, and Will must rescue her before he does anything else, like lend his awesome magical knife skills to Lord Asriel’s army in an attempt to overthrow God.
The thing that annoys me the most about this book is that Pullman has clearly tried to create a world where religion is evil and all that, but it’s not an atheist book like so many are led to believe. There is a God, there is an afterlife, there are angels � it’s simply that nothing is how the modern Christian church has led anyone to believe. To be a truly atheist novel there would be no God, or afterlife, or anything like that.
Mrs Coulter’s character comes alive with all kinds of intriguing backstabbing conniving wiliness. She’s an amazing character, and one I never truly appreciated before this. It’s so hard to cast her in shades of black and white when she’s clearly (now, to me) all kinds of grey. It’s not as simple as her love for Lyra redeems her, because we clearly see her behaving in a non-loving manner towards Lyra. She’s a very complicated character and a lot of the time I couldn’t tell if she was telling the truth or not. Did she really love Lyra? Were her intentions really honourable?
As for Lyra and Will � well I don’t think it’s a very good love story. For a start they are only twelve or thirteen, way too young for an epic kind of love that supposedly saves the worlds. Romantic love is a very grown up concept because adults have mature bodies and minds. Lyra and Will have only just hit puberty. They feel shy around each other on occasion because their bodies are changing but then all of a sudden it’s BAM “We’re in love and it’s so awesome and epic that we just saved the multiverse just by being ourselves and doing normal things, nothing out of the ordinary here.� I don’t buy it, and I feel that the solution to the worlds ending (or at least free will/consciousness) is to have two unique special children fall in desperate love so strong that� well it’s not really described. Somehow their love stops the Dust from leaving all the worlds and we’re just supposed to accept that ON BLIND FAITH. In an ‘atheist� novel.
Yeah, right.
Look, whilst reading (or in my case, listening to) this novel, it is an amazing story. It’s beautifully written and you genuinely care for the characters. It’s afterwards that the whole entire build up seems rather anticlimactic. Lyra’s prophecy about betrayal is supposedly addressed but it seems pretty suss to me, and her other prophecy about being Eve and ‘falling� to temptation also seems pretty cruddy. She does fall to temptation, basically, and like the previous Eve, it is a good thing. It saves the world. But no one is sure what her temptation would be or if she would fall. And while Lyra is a brilliant, original character who, although she is loved by everyone like a Mary-Sue, has some very bad points about her (the lying), Will is just too perfect and teaches her all about the world and looks after her and basically all of Lyra’s awesomeness flies out the window when she meets Will.
Overall it’s an enjoyable novel that wraps up the story in an unexpected and anti-climactic way. All of those promises we’ve been given fizzle out to nothing. The writing is beautiful, and the character development even more so, but the plot lacks an oomph, especially when compared to Northern Lights. It also seems that a lot of the novel is simply filler � the story of the priest who tries to murder Lyra is simply there to create further anxiety for the readers on behalf of our beloved blonde darling.
However the audio book itself is again a masterpiece. Pullman delivers the narrative in fine voice and the actors playing the cast are so filled with emotion and generally awesome in their performances that I cried on more than one occasion....more
Sydney and co are back in The Golden Lily, the highly anticipated sequel to the Vampire Academy spinSee and more on !
Sydney and co are back in The Golden Lily, the highly anticipated sequel to the Vampire Academy spin-off, Bloodlines. I say highly anticipated because those fangirls just can’t leave Adrian alone and are desperate for Sydney to become romantic with him, even after being inside Sydney’s head long enough to know that she’s really not comfortable with the idea of a human-vampire relationship, nor is she even that into Adrian.
But, fangirls. They have their obsessions.
The Golden Lily actually didn’t feel much like an adventure or a mystery novel, the kind I am getting used to from Mead after the romance took a backseat in every other Vampire Academy novel. This novel is a romance, don’t mistake it for anything else. Most of the novel consists of riding along in Sydney’s head as she dates this guy whose name no one can remember (Brayden? Brandon?). He seems pretty perfect at first: logical, intellectual, taking an interest in local history and enjoys talking about obscure things with Sydney. But really he’s just there for Adrian (and thereby Jill) to get brooding about. Oh, and to make Sydney realise she’s not as uptight as she thinks she is.
Then there’s the subplot about a group of young vampire hunters, and unfortunately I made the realisation instantly while Sydney floundered and moped and got uncomfortable around the actual vampires instead of figuring it out as well.
I believe if the focus had been more on the adventure and mystery like in Bloodlines, I would have enjoyed the novel a lot more. I didn’t mind reading about Sydney’s romantic escapades (and the rest of the group. They are pretending to be family. It’s gross.) but because I’m not living vicariously through her, it didn’t make as much of an impact on me as it might have done on say, a teenage girl reader or a single young adult pining for her own boyfriend and imagining herself as Sydney. Also, I just don’t get the appeal of Adrian. He’s an entitled yet slack alcoholic smoker who’s destined to go crazy because of his magic powers. I like reading about him, and I enjoy his banter with Sydney because she’s intelligent but naïve, but I don’t want Sydney to succumb to what I believe might be the inevitable in a Mead universe....more
I was realy looking forward to this. This is what I wrote on when I requested it from Netgalley:
"It sounded cool! A teenage reaper. AwesomI was realy looking forward to this. This is what I wrote on when I requested it from Netgalley:
"It sounded cool! A teenage reaper. Awesome. And a boarding school story? I like those as well."
But I just can't do it. When the second paragraph reads like this:
Rick's lips ghosted across mine. He angled his mouth against mine and I opened for him. My eyes fluttered closed. Tentative, I met his kiss and felt electrified. I clung to him, completely unsure about what I was doing.
I just can't.
Let me break it down:
Molly kisses Rick a grand total of three times, in three different ways, in what is supposed to be one kiss.
1. Rick's lips ghosted across mine.
2. He angled his mouth against mine and I opened for him.
3. Tentative, I met his kiss and felt electrified.
And she is still unsure about what she's doing. I'm pretty sure she's kissing Rick, but hey, I could be wrong. Not to mention the whole 'tentatively clinging' thing.
This is going on my abandoned pile. I just can't wade through this.
Thanks to HarlequinTEEN and Netgalley for providing this advanced reader copy for an honest review....more
Imaginary Girls is the tale of Chloe and her amazing-for-no-reason older sister Ruby. Ruby has this See and more on !
Imaginary Girls is the tale of Chloe and her amazing-for-no-reason older sister Ruby. Ruby has this certain power she can exert over people � she can get them to do whatever she wants, almost like hypnotism � without even trying. It sounds like a paranormal novel, but it’s not, because I know a girl exactly like Ruby except instead of her always breaking up with her boyfriends because she grows bored of them, they end up breaking up with her because they get tired of her shit.
Ruby and my friend are very similar: my friend is beautiful, can get any job she wants (so long as it’s waitressing or bar work because she isn’t qualified for anything else), has all the men twisted around her little finger and has spent the last six years failing to get her degree because she never goes to exams or hands in assignments. Boys buy her Ipads and go out of their way to give her rides (because as if she would get her license at age twenty-four!) even if they’re not dating her and buy her all the alcohol she wants (which is a lot because she has nothing going for her but her looks, much like Ruby) and pay for her flights to go visit them for a weekend of sex or a week in Rio de Janeiro or a few weeks in Venice or whatever� and the only thing they get from her is the pleasure of her company. However Ruby’s power only works in her small town, which is why she is loathe to leave it, whereas my friend’s power works anywhere in the world.
After Chloe stumbles across a dead body floating in the reservoir, she is sent away for two years to live with her estranged father. Ruby comes to collect her after that two year period � exactly when Chloe is becoming more of a woman and more like Ruby every day. Chloe returns to her small town to discover that Ruby’s manipulated just about everyone into believing something different happened, and things only get creepier from there. I don’t want to say much more about the plot because of spoilers � you’ll just have to read it for yourself.
Chloe was an interesting if bland character to follow � the love story here is obviously the relationship between the two sisters. Ruby would literally do anything for Chloe � except she does very undedicated things like forgetting to pick Chloe up and forcing Chloe to live in a half-built house right next to the reservoir, and then expecting Chloe not to go anywhere near it. I understand Ruby was supposed to be amazing but I saw through that � I think everyone is meant to. Chloe obviously adores her sister and is simultaneously jealous, in awe, and a little frightened of her big sister. Chloe’s whole life revolved around Ruby as well, even when she was trying to keep secrets from her. It was a very dysfunctional relationship.
While Ruby was there to protect Chloe, she was obviously pretty sheltered. Chloe saw glimpses of the truth when Ruby’s ‘power� faded, and I would have been interested in seeing more ‘real world� stuff rather than ‘Ruby’s world�. It all makes up for a pretty unreliable narrator and I’m still not entirely sure what the truth is. I think that’s the appeal of this novel � nothing is ever confirmed, it’s all ‘Ruby said� and we all know how manipulative Ruby is. That being said, the novel really does allow your own interpretation of the events and this is what I liked....more
I have yet to find an author � apart from David Gemmell and perhaps Stephen King (whom I have not reSee and more on !
I have yet to find an author � apart from David Gemmell and perhaps Stephen King (whom I have not read and thus it is only hearsay) � that has done what Snyder has done. Snyder has delivered Poison Study in entirely new packaging. Avry is basically Yelena except cooler and much more self-aware. Kerrick is basically Valek, except not as totally bad-ass. We even have a pair of monkeys that fulfill the role of Ari and Janco.
So is this a bad thing? I don’t understand why people are saying it’s too similar to Poison Study. Isn’t that what we’re after? Haven’t we basically been crying for something just like Poison Study but different enough to be its own story?
Snyder delivered. When people said they wanted something else from JK Rowling, she gave them the Casual Vacancy, which couldn’t be more different from Harry Potter if it tried. Meanwhile, everyone secretly hoped it was another Harry Potter book. This is exactly what Snyder’s done: Poison Study 2.0.
So in to Scent of Magic we find Avry and Kerrick parting ways so they can go on and save the world from the evil grasp of Tohon, the life magician who is using zombies to slowly take over the survivors of the deadly plague that wiped out two-thirds of the population and every healer except Avry. The world thinks Avry is dead, so she disguises herself as Irina as finds a place in the military. This section here reminded me strongly of Inside Out and Outside In, Snyder’s young adult dystopia. Avry inserts herself complete with a sergeant’s rank and begins to train Estrid’s soldiers on how to move through the forest like Kerrick, without making a sound. But how long will her disguise hold, and when it does fail, how quickly will Tohon come to claim her, as he does in her dream?
Synder’s writing isn’t as flawless as I would have liked, but then again I am incredibly picky. That, and Snyder is experienced and talented enough to generally not make jarring errors in judgement. For the record I read an arc. There were a few times when I felt jarred by a character’s sudden unexplained actions or reactions, and a few times I felt terribly underinformed about the scene or what Avry was thinking or feeling. Case in point: Avry takes a knife to the belly, and it isn’t until several paragraphs later that any pain is mentioned, or blood. Apart from a few scattered incidents similar to that, I hugely enjoyed Snyder’s writing. Her use f modern slang works extraordinarily well on her worlds � I thought maybe it’s because the books are told from Avry’s first person point of view, but then I remembered that Scent of Magic is also told in Kerrick’s third person point of view. The slang just works.
Avry is an awesome character. Unfortunately she’s reached the point in the book � because it’s a sequel � where most of her growth was in Touch of Power, so in Scent of Magic she’s going from being pretty smart, wily, and brave to even more so. There’s not much character growth � on the plus side, this isn’t as important as the book mainly revolves around plot and Avry’s personal missions. There’s an influx of new characters, which is cool because we get to see different kinds of magicians. We get to see inside Kerrick’s head, which is a nice change on the romance aspect as well.
Overall Scent of Magic is what Snyder does best: high fantasy with a strong young adult female lead. It’s extremely similar to Poison Study, so if you like Snyder’s other work, you’ll most likely enjoy this for exactly what it is: another rollicking fantasy adventure. Snyder has delivered exactly what I wanted and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thanks to HarlequinMIRA and Netgalley for providing this advanced reader copy for an honest review....more
The Subtle Knife is Book 2 of the His Dark Materials trilogy, and the audiobook is an unabridged verSee and more on !
The Subtle Knife is Book 2 of the His Dark Materials trilogy, and the audiobook is an unabridged version narrated by the author and performed by a full cast. Lyra has left her world and stumbled into a strange, adult-less city called Citagazze, where children run wild in the streets and are haunted by invisible ‘spectres� � phantasms that feed on one’s soul. Here she meets Will, a fierce, determined young boy who has just killed a man in self-defence. Together, the pair overcome adversities, such as Lyra’s alethiometer being stolen, and Will acquires and learns how to use the Subtle Knife � the sharpest knife in existence, and used to cut windows into other worlds.
The problem with this novel is that it feels like a filler novel. The entire time, even when something interesting was happening, I was always thinking, ‘And when is the real story going to start?� It always felt like the problems in the novel � Lyra’s alethiometer, Will getting the knife and learning to use it, then the two travelling together and never reaching their destination � needed to be overcome before the novel proper could start. The writing is still superb, and the voice actor playing Will is a brilliant addition to the cast � as is the cast on a whole, the entire thing is beautifully performed � but I was always eager for the ‘real� story to start.
Will is a fine partner to Lyra � a boy ever fiercer than herself, who’s smart, cautious, and introspective. He’s observant and wary of the world around him. He doesn’t bluster in and hope for the best, or rely on his wits to get himself out of tough situations like Lyra does: Will cautiously considers every prospect and safely chooses the best one, and only when forced will he fight like a devil to win at any cost. Another interesting character introduced in this novel is Mary Malone, a doctor of physics, studying dark matter. Her story was interesting, but it was frustrating that the conclusion was never reached � it will be concluded n the next book, The Amber Spyglass � but the whole novel feels like it was abruptly cut off, with little to no conclusion or even a climax.
So as you can see, I still loved this book even though it frustrates me. Personally I feel that if a reader does not want to invest in the entire series, each novel should be wrapped up to leave it at that particular point � even cliffhangers can work in this way, because the reader can imagine their own next instalment. But nothing is concluded in The Subtle Knife: it’s all a big set up for the massive volume of The Amber Spyglass. However, if you want to read the entire trilogy it’s a very good filler novel....more
Eliza Boans is sitting in an interview room, confessing to murder. That’s the premise of this book, See this review and more on !
Eliza Boans is sitting in an interview room, confessing to murder. That’s the premise of this book, and it’s totally awesome. We are told the story in a series of flashbacks: when new girl at school Ella joins ‘Lizzie’s little group of Lexi and Marianne, the harmony of the group is thrown askew. What leads these privileged girls to murder, and who is the victim? What could cause a girl with a bright future ahead of her, a large credit limit, an education at the most expensive private school in the city, to murder someone?
Fury just clicked with me. I really liked Eliza’s voice: that of a spoiled, lazy, entitled brat � but one who knows it. Eliza doesn’t pull any punches. She’s fully aware of her own bad attitude, her own rising anger. She openly jealous of her closest friends, and she vividly appears to hate her own mother. I really enjoyed reading Eliza’s journey � her mistakes, her selfishness, her attempt at redemption, her overwhelmingly fierce loyalty to her friends. I think I like books with party scenes because they are full of all the drama I sought to avoid when I was a teen.
The writing was mostly pretty clean, and it was a lot smoother than Marr’s sophomore novel, Preloved. However the dialogue was often confusing � sometimes I wasn’t sure who was talking because an extra break was inserted or a lack of beat before dialogue that could have indicated who was speaking was ignored. However for the most part the book was easy to read and I devoured it in a day. It’s my kind of thing, you know?
Overall if you like Mean Girl stories, or stories about the downfall of a popular girl, or even a good mystery, I think you might enjoy this. I certainly did, and I am looking forward to more of what Marr can produce....more
Live Through This is the tale of retribution and atonement after Angel, Whedon’s popular vampire witSee and more on !
Live Through This is the tale of retribution and atonement after Angel, Whedon’s popular vampire with a soul, commits a horrific act in the previous novel. Faith, the rogue vampire Slayer with a tumultuous past is the only character that will stick by him � and for good reason. During the TV show, Angel was the only person who stuck by Faith during her crash-and-burn phase.
The artwork in this graphic novel was amazing. The characters all felt as if they’d never gone off the air. The dialogue was also spot on, and all the way through reading I could hear the TV actors� voices quite distinctly.
Angel and Faith make a fabulous pair � Faith is still a slayer, after all, and she’ll do her duty if Angel goes too far in his atonement. It was very entertaining seeing both of their growth through this graphic novel.
An advance reader copy was kindly provided by the publisher....more
Storm Front did not seem like my kind of book. A family member has been pestering me to read them, aSee and more on !
Storm Front did not seem like my kind of book. A family member has been pestering me to read them, and I have resisted, only because it does not sound like ‘my� kind of thing. I mean sure, urban fantasy, a wizard in a real world situation, that sounds cool. But there� s two things about the book that is not my favourite thing to read: it’s an adult book (as opposed to young adult, not X rated), and it’s protagonist is a male. Now, I’m not biased against male protagonists. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them: I simply tend to identify more with female protagonists and enjoy their stories more. (That is not a slight against male writers: I have found several superb male writers who write women just as well as women themselves.) I tend to find I am less interested in male-centric stories because there are so damn many of them out there: this is why I prefer YA, where a glut of female-centric stories abound.
So to make it clear, I did not particularly want to read this (I had resigned to reading it after I have read my 400+ other books on my to-read shelf). But I travel � a lot. With this same family member. So we decided to listen to the audiobook, because I do love James Masters: I think he is a brilliant and completely underrated actor. His delivery of this Dresden novel was simply amazing. Really breathtaking. His voice changed so subtly as he read it, to give an insight into the emotions and physical sensations Harry was feeling. His accent and voice changed dramatically when he read the dialogue of other characters. I really enjoyed his performance.
Butcher is also a fine writer � there’s nothing clumsy or inexperienced about his prose. His descriptions are fine and neither overloaded nor sparse. I took a long time to get into the novel because it read like a police procedural for the first third or so: it’s only when the demons came out of the dark and Harry really got into using his magic that I actually started enjoying the book. By the end of the novel I wasn’t opposed to listening to more of them: Harry is a great character, proud and stubborn and wise and clever. I often squirmed when Butcher just threw more and more bad things at Harry: it was like the poor man’s worst day ever.
Overall, by the end of the book I wanted to continue with the series, but not with great urgency: more of a mild curiosity and the fact that my family member kept telling me ‘THEY GET BETTER!� I find Butcher to be a humorous writer who is not afraid to put Harry in extraordinarily bad situations. I find Harry an agreeable characters whose experience, training, and intelligence serves to get him out of most jams � not necessarily unscathed. Overall it’s a good combination and I can see the mass appeal....more
When twelve year old Lyra’s friend Roger goes missing from Jordan College, she and her daemon PantalSee and more on !
When twelve year old Lyra’s friend Roger goes missing from Jordan College, she and her daemon Pantalaimon set out on a dizzying journey of gyptians (boat people), witches, armoured bears, child-snatchers, an aeronaut (yes it is as cool as it sounds) and religious conspiracies to rescue him. She crosses paths with many interesting people aided only by a ‘golden compass� � a kind of truth-teller � and learns a lot about not only herself, but the world around her, and the nature of her alternate kind of steampunk-ish parallel world, to make her way to a city in the stars.
Northern Lights is hands down the best children’s book I have ever read. No, scrap that. It’s hands down the best book I have ever read. On the surface it’s the tale of a ragamuffin uncouth skilled liar and manipulator barbarian child from the rough and tumble streets of an alternate Oxford, where every person’s soul lives in the form of an animal companion called a daemon. This in itself sounds awesome enough, but when you team this concept with Pullman’s master storytelling abilities, it outshines just about every other piece of literature there is. Pullman’s strength lays in his ability to make you care, and it’s not mean feat. Every single scrap of worldbuilding directly relates back to his brave, caring, passionate twelve year old protagonist. This makes the detail and the description worth it, and anything that seems superfluous actually adds to the reality of the tale (the different types of fur used in the far north, for example, all have different uses).
Lyra is a heroine to die for. She is an amazing child � spoiled, in the way that she’s never had to work or learn or really had a hard life at all, even though she believes she’s an orphan being raised by stuffy scholars from the college. She’s bright, quick, and imaginative. She’s not a Mary-Sue by any stretch of the imagination � yes, she’s a special child, born to a prophesy and loved by many other characters (of which she earns their love), but she’s also a persistent liar and willing to take massive, dreadful risks for the safety and well-being of those she loves. I also have an insane amount of love for Pantaliamon, Lyra’s constant shape-changing companion, although he doesn’t say much. His actions and dedication to Lyra clearly show that he’s a character to be admired.
The actress portraying Lyra in this audiobook, Joanna Wyatt (also the voice of Angelina Ballerina), injects so much emotion and feeling into Lyra that on more than one occasion I nearly burst into tears driving home. The only thing that stopped me was the idea of a police officer pulling me over and being unable to explain that an audiobook was making me blubber like a baby. I also want to give a shout out to the voice actress playing Mrs Coulter, who acted so sweet and hid such dark, dastardly deeds behind her youth and beauty. Similarly, Pullman’s narration is clear and enunciated, and his voice inflects the appropriate amount of emotion into each scene.
This book is not necessarily action-packed or a fast read, but it is chock-a-block full of sheer awesomeness and has so many layers that reading after reading (if you dare to re-read) you will still be unfolding the meanings and deciphering the messages in the text, taking it level by level much like Lyra reading her ‘golden compass� (alethiometer). Is something necessarily bad because someone else tells us so? Is it better to feel all the pain of growing up than grow up cut off from everything? When should authorities be questioned?
I have read this book every few years since publication and it’s one of my firm favourites. The ending, however, is not for the faint-hearted. (Hint � it’s different to the 2007 film version.)...more
Mark Siegel’s wonderfully imagined and beautifully drawn graphic novel Sailor Twain tells the story See and more on !
Mark Siegel’s wonderfully imagined and beautifully drawn graphic novel Sailor Twain tells the story of the Mermaid in the Hudson (which is also its alternate title). Captain Twain stumbles upon an injured mermaid, and in nursing her back to health develops an unhealthy obsession with her that twists his own life and that of his friend Lafayette, a womanizing Frenchman, who in turn is developing a breathtaking relationship with the elusive author CG Beaverton.
I was a bit put off by the cartoonish illustrations when I first started reading, but once I adjusted to the style the story itself swept me along. The simple use of black and white panels didn’t detract from the colours in my mind, and the artist showed great skill in switching between scenes and showing the reactions of characters. I felt like I was truly immersed, and I enjoyed the tale of the mermaid in the Hudson very much.
An advance reader copy was kindly provided by the publisher....more
This little book of poetry delighted me. I mean, it's written by cats! How awesome is that? We are tSee this review and more on !
This little book of poetry delighted me. I mean, it's written by cats! How awesome is that? We are treated to such gems as 'I Lick Your Nose,' 'Some of My Best Friends Are Dogs' and 'That Top Shelf'. It's way too cute! And it has pictures as well! Even though this book was priced just as high as the full-length novels I usually buy, I just couldn't help myself.
True, after a while the poems got a bit formulaic. They started out all cute, thoughtful, or deep, and then right at the end there would come a twist to turn it to humour. It doesn't diminish the sheer awesomeness packed into 112 pages of cats, cats, and more cats. If you like cats or humour or hell even poetry, you'll like this.
Allow me to share my favourite, titled 'Busy, Busy':
It's 8am and time to rest It's 10am and time to relax It's noon and time for repose It's 3pm and time for shut-eye It's 6pm and time for siesta It's 9pm and time for slumber It's midnight and time to snooze It's 4am and time to hang upside down from your bedroom ceiling, screaming
Kat Zhang’s lushly imagined What’s Left of Me spins the tale of what happens when a recessive soul sSee and more on !
Kat Zhang’s lushly imagined What’s Left of Me spins the tale of what happens when a recessive soul sharing one body with a dominant soul refuses to fade away, as they’ve been led to believe is inevitable. Anyone left with two souls in theor single body is a ‘hybrid � dangerous, illegal, and swiftly dealt with by the government. Eva is our recessive soul, and the book is told from her point of view. She shares a body with Addie, and they are fifteen years old.
Although I really loved this book, I felt that the writing was aimed a bit younger than Eva and Addie’s age. Telling the book from Eva’s point of view was wonderful � Eva reported everything Addie did, but couldn’t tell what her sister-soul was thinking unless they shared thoughts. I loved the whole concept � it reminded me of some of my favourite Animorphs novels, where (usually) Cassie shared a mind with either another Yeerk or another soul, and often spoke to them mind-to-mind. This way of writing made me instantly smitten, and I adored Zhang’s poetic storytelling skill as she wove Eva re-learning how to use her body and gain the control she naturally lacks.
Eva and Addie were wonderful to read about. I liked seeing the world from Eva’s point of view, and seeing how much Addie, the dominant soul, needed her recessive sister. Although it’s never exactly explained why hybrids are so dangerous (propaganda plays a huge part in this novel) I could easily see how scatter-brained, artistic Addie needed her more logical, rational sister-soul to keep them both functioning at the highest level. You’d normally expect the flowery, artistic-type, often portrayed as nerds or wallflowers in other media � to be the recessive soul and the wilful, scrappy soul to be the dominant one, so it was really interesting seeing how the relationship between the two played out. It was also fascinating watching the other hybrids interacting, switching between souls, and never getting confused by the change of names of the same character. It was unbelievable well-written and wonderfully pulled off.
The only disappointment in this book is, I think, in the lack of different locations. It basically takes place at Eva and Addie’s school, their house, their friend Hally’s house, or the facility known as Nornand. I did get a little bit bored in the Nornand section only because the location never changed and despite Eva and Addie’s planning, everything seemed to go wrong and I clutched at my hair screaming internally at Zhang, “WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO YOUR BABIES?!�
But apart from that, and the terrible anxiety I got reading this novel and willing everything to work out for Eva and Addie, I really loved this and I look forward to reading Book 2. It’s original, heartbreaking, and really makes you think about propaganda, the government, what it’s like to be a child, the power of the medical world, international relations and all sorts of things. It was wonderful.
4.5 stars.
An advance reader copy was kindly provided by the publisher....more
Without spoiling Stormdancer, Jay Kristoff’s companion children’s book The Little Stormdancer deliveSee and more on !
Without spoiling Stormdancer, Jay Kristoff’s companion children’s book The Little Stormdancer delivers the charming tale of Yukiko and her companion griffon (‘thunder tiger�) Buruu in a condensed, simplified version, weaving the familiar themes of environmental protection and animal welfare also found in the full-length novel.
The repeated motifs, clear positive messages, and adorable illustrations ensure that this will be a picture book repeatedly read to my own children. Whether they like it or not.
This book was a gift to those who attended Stormdancer’s launch party....more
Katniss’s final act of rebellion in the Quarter Quell Hunger Games in Catching Fire starts a revolutSee and more on !
Katniss’s final act of rebellion in the Quarter Quell Hunger Games in Catching Fire starts a revolution that she is fated to lead as the famous ‘Mockingjay� � the symbol of the very rebellion she tried so hard to avoid.
Mockingjay was a very good book which I found hard to put down. Suffice to say, Katniss is fucking awesome in a warzone, even though she’s encouraged to use a bow among bombs and guns. The book runs much the way as the first two: the first half of the book is preparation and the second is the ‘Games� part � although this time, like I said, it’s a warzone. Katniss is still televised (and she sucks at scripted lines) and the rebels are trying their hardest to get their message out while bringing down the Capitol.
I personally felt that this book wasn’t as good as Catching Fire, but I really liked the warzone section. It reminded me a lot of Tomorrow, When The War Began because it’s no longer a ‘game� � even though the Hunger Games have always been life-or-death. Katniss doesn’t change much as a character � she is already strong and kick-ass, but now she is dealing with post traumatic stress disorder, which didn’t seem to affect her much in Catching Fire. I feel that the many deaths were appropriate � they didn’t necessarily have a ‘reason�, but they are in a war zone � and tell me honestly, what death has a point in a war? There are going to be casualties and it may be your favourite character. Shit happens. In the end this is still a Hunger Games book, and it’s a fight to the death.
I did not like the ending. I felt too many things were unresolved and it could have been fleshed out further to gain a more satisfying ending. I don’t feel this way simply because it is the last book of the trilogy, but I feel that too much at the end just ‘was� without a proper explanation. I can’t say too much more without spoilers, but suffice to say that character motivations were not explained and we are just expected to accept out of character behaviour. OK. Overall, I still really enjoyed this book, and I can’t wait to re-read the whole trilogy and also see the last two books made into films....more
3.5 because it has issues - so many issues - but I ended up liking it.
Was this once X-Men fanfictionSee and more on !
3.5 because it has issues - so many issues - but I ended up liking it.
Was this once X-Men fanfiction? I am not the only one who sees the similarities between Juliette and Rogue of X-Men fame, who could not touch another person for fear of hurting or killing them. Both are white girls with long brown hair. Both have this special deadly skin and super strength. Both have issues being unable to physically touch anyone. My knowledge of Rogue is limited to the films, but in alternative-universe fanfiction there needn’t even be this many similarities.
I wouldn’t have a problem if it was, at first, an X-Men fanfiction because as far as I know, Mafi hasn’t pulled it to publish. It’s hard to keep things hidden from the book world, and I reckon people would know. But like I said, the similarities are quite remarkable. If you like the X-Men then I think that’s a good thing!
Our heroine, Juliette, has been locked away for the good of the populace after she has hurt one too many people simply by caring and reaching out to help. Juliette is slightly crazy and craves any kind of intimacy, and Mafi demonstrates this by employing an unusual technique in traditional publishing: the strikethrough text. At first I found it annoying, but I recognise it as an important part of Juliette’s thought process and narrative, and it does ease off in the second half of the novel. Mafi also has Juliette overuse an abundance of metaphors in her narrative which, to a lot of people, simply fail. I had read reviews with excerpts of the writing (some of these reviews claim this is creative writing gone bad, etc) and I was prepared for it. In fact, in reading those excerpts I had decided that I liked Mafi’s writing; that the metaphors which are really quite strange worked for me. I did struggle early in the novel because even though I understood what I was getting in to, the metaphor use really did overwhelm me at first.
”Hate looks just like everybody else until it smiles. Until it spins around and lies with lips and teeth carved into the semblance of something too passive to punch.�
“He says it with a small smile the size of Jupiter.�
“Warner thinks Adam is a cardboard cutout of vanilla regurgitations.�
“His voice hugs the letters of my name so softly I die 5 times in that second.�
Everything is something else in Juliette’s eyes, and you really have to take the essence of the words to get it to make sense, not the literal meaning. It’s incredibly overdramatic, but I like that about Juliette. Mafi is also a fan of using actual numbers (4, 20, 1320) instead of the words (four, twenty, one thousand, three hundred and twenty) which really annoyed me the whole way through. That’s a stylistic touch though and it hasn’t affected the rating or even really how I feel overall about the novel. It better continue in the other novels, is all I’m going to say.
Juliette is really kind of broken. I’ve already said she’s insane, and as her mind slowly starts to rebuild itself from being locked in solitary confinement for three years (not speaking or touching anyone) we get less repetitive words and less strikethrough text. She’s also a Mary-Sue � incredibly powerful but incredibly helpless because of her good intentions, most likely to gasp and freeze in place than take action. I was desperate for her to realise that she’s actually in an incredible state of power, rather than feeling sorry for herself. All the male characters in the book (except the ten year old) express some kind of sexual desire towards her, which is icky as she’s only seventeen. She acknowledged on more than one occasion that her superpower basically protects her from being raped. There was a distinct lack of other females in the book until right at the end. Most things seemed a little too convenient for Juliette � she could access her superpowers when needed, but was otherwise overwhelmed as a good helpless damsel.
(view spoiler)[And of course, having ‘both� love interests immune to her touch. I thought it might have something to do with the radiation, but another character was supposed to not be immune whilst having travelled there, so I think it is more something to do with the people with superpowers. (hide spoiler)]
This book is part post-apocalyptic and part romance and a huge part of it is dedicated to the romance between childhood almost-friends Adam and Juliette (after all, who could be friends with a monster?). I quite liked Adam: he was sweet and careful and truly dedicated, with masses of self-control even though Juliette is craving to be touched and he’s a teenage boy, and quite frankly the two are intensely attracted to each other. Of course I didn’t like him at the start because he’s a bit of an arsehole, but apparently that’s how I like my romances. At least he’s not creepy and rapey like Warner, the apparent other ‘love interest� � although how anyone could think that Juliette could be with some guy she is afraid will rape her I have no idea:
“I can only imagine what he’d do if he had access to my body.� � Page 204.
I just don’t get it. In fact, it is hinted at when Juliette confesses to enjoying kissing him that she might develop feelings for him despite proclaiming to hate him, and I dread this. I would like to interpret Juliette’s reaction to Warner as simply because she is insane and craving any kind of intimacy, even unwelcome, forced upon intimacy with a guy she hates who wants to rape her and murder her boyfriend. But that may just be giving Juliette too much credit.
Also, the thing that Juliette does when Warner is getting too grabby? LADIES. THIS IS HOW WE HANDLE UNWELCOME SEXUAL ADVANCES. Well, maybe not literally, but it is better to fight back than to accept it because you might be rude if you refuse, or to fall in love with some creep because he won’t stop bothering you (NORA GREY, ANYONE?)
Overall, if you can get past the weird stylistic devices, the overuse of metaphors that do not, upon inspection, make total sense, and the remarkable similarities between Juliette and Rogue, then you might enjoy this, as I did....more
When Ash’s mother, full of fairy tales and knowledge of the old ways, dies, her father remarries a wSee and more on !
When Ash’s mother, full of fairy tales and knowledge of the old ways, dies, her father remarries a woman who brings two horrendous daughters to the household. Well, Ash is a Cinderella retelling, so that bit should be obvious. But this is a Cinderella retelling with lesbians and actual fairies. It’s so cool.
While Ash is different to your average Cinderella story, I would say that it’s inspired by the story, not an actual retelling as such. There’s a lot of liberty in the story � the Prince hardly figures in it at all. The love story is not between Ash and the Prince, but between Ash and the fairy Sidhean, who has claimed Ash as his own, and the King’s Huntress (for the title is always inherited by a female � no explanation why, which I appreciate: it’s just always been that way). It’s a rare love triangle � a f/f/m one. There’s absolutely no prejudice in this world against gay lovers, which is refreshing.
The writing was decent and clean but there was something about the amazing world � where, in the past, fairies freely dwelt among humans, but now the magic is dying and the time of the fairies is coming to an end � that pulled me in. I wanted more of the world, more of the magic, and even more of the generously retold in-world fairy tales designed to warn mortals of the perils of fairies.
That being said, Ash was particularly awesome at being wary of fairies, and questioned her pull to them all the time. I understood her compulsion to go with Sidhean � it was an escape from her life as a servant to someone who wanted her to having nothing � out of nothing but malice and spite. It was fairly predictable what would happen in the end. But that didn’t detract from my enjoyment....more
Tavian just wanted to go on a holiday to Japan with his shapeshifter girlfriend Gwen. He had no ideaSee and more on !
Tavian just wanted to go on a holiday to Japan with his shapeshifter girlfriend Gwen. He had no idea his shapeshifting past would catch up to him upon return to his homeland: his kitsune (fox) mother is looking for him, he is haunted by a faceless ghost, and seemingly around every corner a bunch of gangster shapeshifting dogs are on his heels. Oh, and did I mention that if Tavian doesn’t discover his true name soon, his own shapeshifting power will kill him?
Foxfire was a brilliant book � the third in its series, but I took a risk by not reading the first two. About halfway through reading Foxfire I decided I wanted to read Gwen’s story, because she is a badass. Tavian’s story is a Japanese urban fantasy and as such, the required Japanese words are thrown around a lot � luckily my Kindle dictionary could translate a few of the words that I occasionally forgot. The cool thing about this book is that Karen Kincy has clearly done some research into how the Japanese speak, and how a Japanese-American with little knowledge of his former language would speak as well. I personally felt that too many English words were replaced by the Japanese when an English word was perfectly acceptable, but that’s just a matter of taste. I found the use of the word ‘kitsune� (which is ‘fox� in Japanese) to be particularly awesome –a kitsune in Japan is a woman who can turn into a fox. Tavian also provided a lot of translation on the page as well, which was a nice touch.
Tavian was a lovely character to read about and follow his adventures. I am not afraid to admit that I do not often read books from a male perspective, but Tavian was refreshingly honest, mature, sweet, and kind. He had a curiosity to him that I really liked. I didn’t however really get the seriousness of his situation, and I didn’t feel that he was taking his impending death seriously enough. There was a deadline to the story that ended before he was due to fly back to America with Gwen, but I didn’t feel a particular sense of urgency. I also fell in love with his girlfriend, Gwen, the heroine of Book 1. She can shapeshift into any form, whereas Tavian can only turn into a fox. Gwen was feisty, brave, beautiful, and slightly reckless: all the qualities of my favourite girls. I also got the picture that her bravery and recklessness could lead her into a lot of trouble.
Overall I enjoyed reading Foxfire: perhaps it wasn’t my favourite kind of tea, but I still enjoyed the cuppa. The most important thing about reading Book 3 in the series is that it has made me want to read Book 1, and I guess that’s what reading is all about, right?
An advance reader copy was kindly provided by the publisher....more
Nemo (The ☾Moonlight� Library)
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