The Great Library Series continues. Jess and his twin brother have swapped roles in an attempt to save those they care about most. They’re merely pawnThe Great Library Series continues. Jess and his twin brother have swapped roles in an attempt to save those they care about most. They’re merely pawns in a giant chess game that they havent even begun to understand. In a world where the written word could very well mean a death sentence, Jess and his band of outcasts have challenged the authority of the Library by manufacturing a printing press.
Smoke and Iron proved to be my least favorite so far in the series. While I still enjoy the books, I think the author lost something along the way. I still adore the characters. I still enjoy the story being told. I am not sure what exactly is missing, but I have found my interest steadily decreasing as the series continues. When I read the first one I was completely enraptured with it. I enjoyed a majority of the second one. And the third one I had to start twice before I finished it. And now� there’s this one.
Part of my detachment with this one, I think, is that there are multiple POV’s now. Instead of sticking with the POV’s that have been telling the story up until this point, we now have several new ones. I know that sometimes stories being told from different perspectives adds a layer of suspense and mystery. In this book, I think it muddled the storyline and distracted from the overall story being told. I thnk it took me out of the story because I had to continually remember who I was reading. And on top of that, some of the characters sounded the same.
Some authors have the voice of several characters in their heads and are able to pull that off in a book. I think in this instance it was just too much of a good thing. Yes, the group was scattered, but that doesn’t mean we need a POV chapter from every single character in the book. Especially when their voices all sound the same. The only exception was Khalilia. I think the addition of her POV was excellent. In fact, the whole series might have been better based from her perspective rather than Jess�. I know, it sounds blaphemous to those who follow this series� but it’s just how I feel.
I will of course be continuing on. I have to see how this all plays out! I really hope that she finds the thread of this story again though and gets it back to what it was starting out. As of right now there are far too many side stories going on, too many perspectives and too many objectives. But, it’s still a fast-paced adventure. It’s a wild ride that travels through this awesome dystopian world that has captivated my heart. There are so many more things that I love in this series compared to my complaints and that is why I’ll be sticking with it....more
Guess who finally finished the World's Longest Buddy Read?
Me.
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Twelve-year-old Jack Sawyer has one mighty task ahead of him. He must make a jourGuess who finally finished the World's Longest Buddy Read?
Me.
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Twelve-year-old Jack Sawyer has one mighty task ahead of him. He must make a journey across the country in order to save his mother. A quest? Aye, you bet. A quest worthy of another young lad we know and love- Jake Chambers. Twinners? Mayhap, mayhap not.
Jack’s father died leaving him with his b-list movie star mother. She’s dying of cancer. Sucking on cigarettes and living the good life, she knows her son must go. Even if she doesn’t fully understand why, she knows in her very bones that he must.
But Jack isn’t going alone. He’s got the help from his friend Speedy Parker. Speedy’s got the magic juice that helps Jack flip from our world to the Territories. The Territories is a parallel universe that somewhat mirrors our world albeit an old-fashioned version. While in the Terrirories, Jack can travel much faster…if he’s not caught.
Jack makes a few friends along the way, and a few enemies as well. He tries to beat his “Uncle� Morgan Sloat. The most notable friend of course is sixteen-year-old werewolf, Wolf. Wolf is the embodiment of all that is good in the world. Sure, he’s a werewolf, but his main goal is to protect the herd! Wolf! You pounded that nail! And his love for Jack seems to know no end.
There are seemingly endless complications for Jack as he makes his way across the country. Both in the US and in the Territories version of it. So many awful encounters that you personally feel exhausted reading it, wondering how on earth one boy could ever endure so much. But persevere he does. He stands and stays true. He and Jake Chambers know an awful lot about handling things that are well beyond the capacity of others their own age; about facing horrors that no one, let alone a twelve-year-old, should be facing.
This is an age-old tale of good vs. evil, of the power of love and friendship. And while some complain it’s heavy handed, I for one happen to appreciate what the authors were going for. There’s nothing quite like reading a book and experiencing the weight of exhaustion that your main character is feeling or finding yourself immersed in a world so vivid you feel you could pluck an apple of a tree. Aye, and the sweetest apple yeh’ve ever tasted it would be too.
While I refuse to re-read Black House, I am glad that I re-read this one. There was so much I had forgotten. I’d like to thank Dan (the 2.0 version), Becky, Kristin, Christopher and any of my other pants-hating friends that joined me on this incredible journey. It only took me 2 months longer than everyone else in the group to finish!...more
The Long Walk is a short story by Richard Bachman, aka a much younger and much more cynical Stephen King. It centers around Ray Garraty, one of the 10
The Long Walk is a short story by Richard Bachman, aka a much younger and much more cynical Stephen King. It centers around Ray Garraty, one of the 100 boys selected to participate in this year’s Long Walk. What is the Long Walk you ask? Exactly what it sounds like: a long fucking walk.
The Rules: Keep walking. Keep up the pace. If you don’t, there are armed guards there to put a bullet in your head. Get too tired? Get shot. Stop to chat? Get shot. Run off and try to get free? Get shot. Slow down? Get shot. Catch pneumonia and struggle to keep up? Get shot.
What happens if you are the last man standing walking? Well, you get whatever you want for the rest of your life, or so the story goes. You get all the riches. You get comforts unimaginable. But will it matter if your mind is gone?
This book is just one giant mindfuck from start to finish. We are inside the mind of Garraty and we get the firsthand experience of what it’s like to walk nonstop day and night through the elements. He’s supplied water and a lovely food supplement that’s squeezed through a tube along with some crackers for good measure.
Garraty is interested in learning about the other boys who willingly volunteered to partake in this walk, the biggest sporting event of the year. He’s still not sure why he volunteered, but it’s buried somewhere deep in his mind. Will he find the answers he is looking for? Will he come out on top or will his be one of the 99 bodies scattered along the side of the road?
I loved this book the first time I read it many years ago, and I loved it even more the second time around on audio. For a book where the premise seems simple and boring, it is an enthralling read. No matter what format you choose, you will not be disappointed.
I am not going to lie, I struggled a bit to get into Ash and Quill. I can’t really say what it was exactly that made this one more difficult to get inI am not going to lie, I struggled a bit to get into Ash and Quill. I can’t really say what it was exactly that made this one more difficult to get into, but I was not fully immersed like I was the first two. In fact, after the library (the regular one in my home town, not the Great Library in Alexandria) refused to let me renew it, I took it back with a “well-fuck-you-too� attitude.
When I heard that book 4 was scheduled for release, though, my tune quickly changed. I re-requested Ash and Quill and told myself to pull up my big-girl-britches and get a move on. That’s just what I did too. You see, had I made it a chapter further into Ash and Quill the first time, I wouldn’t have been so keen to hand it back to the library. Things really picked up once I got past a certain part and I once again found myself at the mercy of Rachel Caine.
While escaping the Library forces in London, Jess and his group of friends end up being sent far, far away. Where they end up is horrifying: Philadelphia!! Now, Philadelphia can be terrifying under normal circumstances, but in a ruined world led by those crazy “Burners� it is much worse. Burners are against the Library. But they’re also against the smugglers. They burn books. *sobs* It’s literally the worst thing ever. And in this world, they run the show.
Jess and his friends are in some serious trouble here. They have to be able to prove to the leader of the Burners that they are worth more alive than dead. They also need to figure out how to escape. But even if they escape the city of Philadelphia, there are Library troops just outside the wall.
Fugitives from the Library and living in hostile quarters make for one fuck of a story, people. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised where this book went. Caine is not afraid to toy with her readers� emotions, leaving us all on the edge of our seats and in constant fear for the lives of our characters. She has created a believable dystopian world that any booklover would find horrifying. What I love is that characters die. I know, that sounds weird, but I like knowing characters are in danger. It feels real to me. In this particular case, these characters fully understand and accept that were they to die, it would be for a cause they believe in.
What started out on the slow side turned into an enthralling read. I would have had the 4th book sooner, but the goddamn libraries in my area didn’t have it until weeks after its release. SDJF HUIFHSEKGHDJKGK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not the libraries fault, I know. Just venting my own frustration. It was especially frustrating because Caine left us with yet another cliffhanger that felt like a punch to the gut.
If you haven’t picked this series up yet, do yourself a favor and get to the library. We’re lucky to live in a world where the library isn’t the enemy. ...more
My initial reaction: I am having a very hard time making up my mind about this book. [image]
Let me sit and think on this one a bit.
Review after having sMy initial reaction: I am having a very hard time making up my mind about this book. [image]
Let me sit and think on this one a bit.
Review after having sat and thought a bit:
Gather ‘round, friends! Find yourself a comfy seat and take your pants off.
That’s right. It’s time to review a pantsless-platoon buddy read of epic proportions. I started this book in fucking OCTOBER, people. Do you know when I finished it? Fucking January. I know I am a slow mutant reader, but come on�.I’ve read Stephen King’s It in less time and that’s almost double the volume. So what was it? To be honest, I don’t quite know. I’m hoping by writing this review, I’ll be able to put my finner on it. (view spoiler)[Being a mom, finger is now finner. (hide spoiler)]
The opening sequence in this story is one of the best I’ve ever read. I was immediately drawn in by the story. I mean, who wouldn’t be? A naked man, strapped to a steering wheel of a vehicle, with a mysterious tattoo on his shoulder, who had also been strangled and was already dead (view spoiler)[ Not to be confused with Still-Dead Stan (hide spoiler)] goes flying off the side of a cliff into a lake that is known for its unforgiving current. And our MC’s father selflessly goes diving in head first to try to save him, not knowing the man is already dead. But the image of that already-dead man will haunt Mr. Mackenson in ways he never knew possible.
In the quiet town of Zephryr, this happening is ALL THE NEWS. No, really. The townspeople just didn’t know what to think. After months of searching, this already- dead man seems to have come from nowhere. No family. No next of kin. No one searching for this missing, already-dead man. Baffling. Stumped. Defeated. Mr. Mackenson can’t sleep at night, tortured by dreams that seem to be trying to give him clues.
Cory Mackenson, our MC, has a vivid imagination and an ability to spin a story. It’s what his friends all look to him for. They expect him to paint the picture in their minds and fill in the blanks of all their adventures. And being young boys, they have lots of adventures. There are some that are fun and filled with the innocence of youth, some that are tragic, some that are so bizarre it makes you want to bash your face off a wall repeatedly. Mayhap that’s where the term “off the wall� comes from? *stops to ponder this*
There’s friendship. There’s imagination. There’s a ridiculous evil monkey that’s possessed of Satan. There’s a red-headed booger-picker. There’s southern voodoo magic. There’s creatures from the black lagoon depths of the Black Lake. There’s apparently a real life fucking dinosaur that took this story from the fun boyhood adventure to the realms of AREYOUFUCKINGSERIOUSWITHTHISSHIT?!. Which completely took me out of the story.
Mayhap my issue with this story is that I loved it so much that these little asides became too much and took me out of it, hence dwindling my affection. I LOVE the things I love. To some, that statement may seem redundant and unnecessary, but to those of you who know me, you are definitely smelling what I’m stepping in here. I don’t like anything that may challenge my love. And for some reason, this author just continued to call my reasons to love this book into question. WHY?!
Mayhap it was the formatting. Had this been written as a collection of short stories, I for one think it would have been 86.3% better.
It was not the writing. No, not that. The writing was some of the best I’ve read in a long time.
It wasn’t the characters. I found them to be believable and in most cases, likeable. Having grown up in a small town the people felt accurate to me.
*shrugs*
I think it was a handful of this and a handful of that. It wasn’t any one thing I guess is what I’m trying to say. It was the seemingly endless digressions- this author could give Stephen King a run for his money in that department! It was the improbability of certain things- there being an actual fucking dinosaur, there being a father who would willingly leave his young son with a nude man(regardless of the nude man’s mental capacity), there being a fucking zombie dog who was prayed back to life and then (view spoiler)[being sent off into the clearing at the end of the path with the ghost of a dead kid. (hide spoiler)]
I mean, come on. Walk the line here, buddy. Help me out a little. Have some fucking direction.
Aha!
Here it is. My moment of clarity. I think I have finally put my finner on it. This story didn’t have any direction. The author didn’t seem to have a fucking clue what story he was trying to tell. It’s like someone who wants his/ first tattoo putting all his ideas into one. That’s what it read like. “I want to write a murder mystery set in a small town, with a random naked guy who seems insane but is actually brilliant and has one of the best dialogues out there but really serves very little purpose. And I want there to be a monkey who is possessed of the devil that throws his shit on church-goers. Oh! How cool would it be to have a fucking triceratops terrorizing the town? Better make sure to throw in a creepy 100+ year voodoo lady. Best not to forget a shoot-out…Hmm what else can we throw in here?�
It just got more and more ridiculous the more he added in there. What started out so wonderfully quickly turned outrageous and goddamnit did it break my fucking heart. It broke my heart because I fell in love from the start and I wanted that love and passion to continue throughout the book’s entirety.
There were moments of greatness that, for me, outweighed a lot of the things that upset me so much. But I’ve finally come to a decision and am rating this 3 stars, but really a 2.5. There is nothing I hate more than being misled. It feels almost like a betrayal.
I would like to thank my buddies, even if they left me in the dust. You guys make every buddy read worth it and doing it without pants is just an added bonus. I say thankya....more
Paper and Fire is the second book in what is proving to be my new favorite series. The end to the first book dealt us a heavy blow(view spoiler)[ the Paper and Fire is the second book in what is proving to be my new favorite series. The end to the first book dealt us a heavy blow(view spoiler)[ the death of our beloved Thomas Schreiber (hide spoiler)]. And now our group is scattered within the walls of Alexandria.
Jess has reason to believe that Thomas is being hidden in the bowels of the library, being held captive for daring to invent something he thought would better the Library. Jess makes it his personal goal to find out once and for all what actually happened to Thomas.
While the others aren’t super thrilled about going on a potentially deadly rescue mission, they all know they have no choice. They can’t allow Thomas to be tortured and then removed from the records- essentially removed from history. The Library is ruthless and sinister, yes, but if they can save Thomas, it will be worth it.
This installment was so fast-paced and exciting the pages almost caught fire from me turning them so quickly�. see what I did there? Did ya? 😉 (I know, super corny, I can’t help it.) But seriously, I’d go into detail but if I say anymore it would require me spilling the beans on some major plot points!
I will say that I enjoy some of the relationships in this series. I think Jess� instalove with Morgan is a tad ridiculous. But hey, we were all teenagers once, convinced that our love was the real thing. And it is Young Adult, so some cheesy love and heavy make out sessions are in order. There’s lots of quivering and shudders and shivers. You know, all that mushy-gushy shit that I can barely tolerate. It’s just something I have come to accept about YA, though. It’s to be expected.
I encourage anyone who enjoys YA, Fantasy, Alternate Reality, or Dystopia to pick this series up as soon as humanly possible. I can’t remember having so much fun reading a series as I have with this one. ...more
Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of my most treasured possessions. I love this book like I would do a child. I would say that it’s hard to describe Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of my most treasured possessions. I love this book like I would do a child. I would say that it’s hard to describe this sort of affection towards a book, but let’s face it, we’re on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, and if YOU people don’t get it then you shouldn’t be on here.
Charlie. Dear, sweet, loving Charlie. The book is told through a series of letters that he is writing to someone he has never actually met. Charlie tells this anonymous person everything about what is going on his life. It starts with him talking about his friend who has recently committed suicide and then goes on to his new friendship with Patrick and Sam.
Patrick is the best. There is nothing I can put into words that sums it butter than that. Read the damn book and find out for yourself.
Charlie is in love with Sam. She is cool and sophisticated and beautiful, but not in the traditional way, or so Charlie says. She’s kind and funny and accepting.
Charlie is learning to participate in life instead of standing on the outskirts and being a wallflower. Not just participating in life but experiencing it. He goes out, he drinks, he tries drugs, he gets a girlfriend, he learns the difference between being what someone needs vs what someone wants. And most importantly he learns what it means to be your own damn person.
As the story progresses we see the writing in these letters develop. Charlie is perfecting his craft and his dream of being a writer seems more and more plausible. He loves books. The most recent book he read is his new favorite book ever time.
But Charlie is� different. There has been a lot of speculation as to whether he has a form of autism or not. I think the ending of this book explains Charlie's "odd" behavior enough that I haven't ever given it much thought. He’s socially awkward-overly honest without realizing the truth can sometimes be hurtful. He sees everything without fully understanding what he is seeing and there is a level of nativity that can’t be ignored. Charlie is special though, about that there is almost no argument.
The struggle of finding oneself in those painful teenage years can certainly be a brutal experience. It can also be rewarding in ways we didn’t think possible. I find myself reminiscing about some of my own experiences, sometimes with fondness, sometimes with tears. Regardless of how we feel about those experiences, they do in fact make us who we are in the here and now. And that is what this book is about: life.
A truly wonderful coming of age story that will have you smiling, gasping, laughing, crying and gritting your teeth in anger. If there is one book out there that could possibly help someone who feels lost, I think this is the one that I would recommend. I am so glad I took the time to re-read this one.
The Great Library Series is a story with an alternate reality. In this world, the Great Library of Alexandria was never destroyed. The world’s most brThe Great Library Series is a story with an alternate reality. In this world, the Great Library of Alexandria was never destroyed. The world’s most brilliant minds and their scrolls were never lost. The secrets of Alchemy are available at your local Serapeum. Sounds awesome right?
Wrong. The Great Library and its Archivists are now fully in control of who reads what. They are the governing body and hold supreme rule over all. There’s a huge black market for books, actual physical books. The Library doesn’t let you have those, oh no! You must have your reading material transmitted via alchemy to your tablet. And don’t be fooled- your reading material is being heavily monitored.
Jess Brightwell, our MC, is a twin. He is also a book smuggler for his father. The Brightwells are one of the biggest names in the Black-Market trade of illegal books. Jess, is of course, very resourceful and one of the best in the business. When his father tells him, he has been accepted by the Library for an apprenticeship, Jess doesn’t know what to think. His father is asking a lot of him. Go and join the Library after years of running illegal books right under their nose? Not to mention, his father expects him to continue the family’s trade from inside the Great Library itself!
Once Jess arrives at the Great Library in Alexandria, he soon realizes he is going to have to do a lot more work than he thought. The apprenticeships aren’t just handed out. These kids must earn them. As the class gets smaller and smaller Jess gets more and more nervous that he will be cut. The handful left are the brightest he’s ever met. And on top of worrying about whether he’ll make it through to be a scholar, he is trying to keep his identity as a smuggler quiet.
We meet a cast of characters that are really well-done. I won’t name them all but the few that stuck out the most to me were: Scholar Wolfe (our instructor), Thomas Schreiber (our lovable German) and Khalila (our Hermione Granger). There are quite a few others, but those are the ones that I loved the most. Their dynamic works. Their characters feel real and seem fleshed out.
Starting this book, I thought it was going in one direction and it took a hard left. It wasn’t necessarily for the worse, but I wanted more of where I thought it was going. I really enjoyed the world that Caine has created here and thought that could have been explored a bit more. With that being said, I still enjoyed where she took it. It was a very exciting read with a rich atmosphere. I had a hard time setting it back down! ...more
Undivided is the last book of the UnWind series. By the time all was said and done I was completely uninvested in these characters. What started out s
Undivided is the last book of the UnWind series. By the time all was said and done I was completely uninvested in these characters. What started out so strongly ended so poorly.
Our cast of characters have lost sight of who they are. And, like the previous installment, they are indecisive and spread out all over the place. We get an additional 14 side story lines that seemingly came out of nowhere to add plenty of confusion to the storyline.
Lev’s whole storyline just drove me nuts. It was great in the beginning to see someone who was brainwashed into believing that being unwound is a holy experience. But where his story went from there was just�.UGH. I can’t even come up with a word that explains it well enough! Lame? Overdone? Desperate? Pathetic? I think, honestly, given where the story goes, Lev should have just been killed off in book 2. I just did not fucking care about anything he had going on past the first book.
Risa and Connor are supposed to be madly in love with one another. We are told this repeatedly throughout the book. But I just didn't feel it. Some authors are WONDERFUL at creating relationships that feel real. You read these couples and know that they belong together. You are reminded of your hormonal teenage years where LOVE was everything and there was nothing in the world that could stop it. This romance was forced and just did NOT work.
All the side characters seemed to be distracting to the whole storyline. I feel like the author meant to use them as a way to tell a broader story, but it just didn't work. They were either underdeveloped, thrown in last minute or so overdone you weren't sure what the REAL storyline was.
The ending of the series did very little for me. I just thought there were aspects that could have been done better, and a LOT of things that could have been left out completely. It felt like things were thrown in as an afterthought and it just did NOT work for me. It makes me sad because as you all know, I just love YA Dystopians. (I also feel bad because my dear friend Ashley recommended these to me and I always hate when I don’t jive with a book a friend recommends.) Overall the series would get a 3 star rating from me. I really enjoyed the first two but the last two were HUGE disappointments.
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