I just finished this series and it was pretty dec; emotional and funny and so forth. None of my pet peeves. Interesting read for all ages. Better if you know the mythology but it's not necessary to follow. Good motifs. I'm gonna keep watching Les Mis now. Hugh Jackman has gross teeth.
Rating? Quite good.
Read again? Yes.
You read? Yep.
Age level? Older grade school and on.
Saturday, April 06, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Sovay by Celia Rees
I don't even...
I am angry at books right now.
Do authors even care anymore? Gah. This and the Maximum Ride series--which I will get to later--I just can't handle it. Garbage.
I'm overreacting a little bit. Here's the deal with this book.
I couldn't actually finish it. I got too confused. The main character(Sovay) kept meeting people with generic names and I couldn't keep track of who they all where. The main character (Sovay), in the first four or five chapters, met about five guys around her age who were all attractive and all took a page to think about how pretty she was or how she wasn't like other girls. (Cue random references to way out of time period dislike of slavery so that we know that the main characters are good guys.) She met so many attractive young men I couldn't remember who they all were. The main character (Sovay) was a complete idiot.
Cue me deciding to just look at the last chapter to see who she ended up falling in love with so I could understand what was happening. It was some guy she hadn't even met yet. Also there were three or four other young attractive men she'd also met along the way. Because when America was young and Britain had an empire, you were either a father, a bad guy, the main character, or a 20 something year old man "who look very fine".
Looking back to find a quote to make fun of, I figured out the problem. Except for a sentence when they tell the main character (Sovay!) their name, the author (Rees) only uses pronouns. Every chapter is page after page of He, he, he, hehehehe, She, she, he, she, he, he, he.
Rating? I don't it's fair for me to give one, since I didn't actually read it. I just gotta say, after two Agatha Christie books it was not pretty.
Read again? Not physically able to read theh first time.
You read? If you like drivel. It was worse than Twilight. I'm completely serious; at least Twilight was easy to read.
Age level: I don't know. I didn't actually read it.
PS I got this book because I'd read the authors previous one, Pirates! when I was like 16. I thought I'd liked it. I think I misremembered.
I am angry at books right now.
Do authors even care anymore? Gah. This and the Maximum Ride series--which I will get to later--I just can't handle it. Garbage.
I'm overreacting a little bit. Here's the deal with this book.
I couldn't actually finish it. I got too confused. The main character(Sovay) kept meeting people with generic names and I couldn't keep track of who they all where. The main character (Sovay), in the first four or five chapters, met about five guys around her age who were all attractive and all took a page to think about how pretty she was or how she wasn't like other girls. (Cue random references to way out of time period dislike of slavery so that we know that the main characters are good guys.) She met so many attractive young men I couldn't remember who they all were. The main character (Sovay) was a complete idiot.
Cue me deciding to just look at the last chapter to see who she ended up falling in love with so I could understand what was happening. It was some guy she hadn't even met yet. Also there were three or four other young attractive men she'd also met along the way. Because when America was young and Britain had an empire, you were either a father, a bad guy, the main character, or a 20 something year old man "who look very fine".
Looking back to find a quote to make fun of, I figured out the problem. Except for a sentence when they tell the main character (Sovay!) their name, the author (Rees) only uses pronouns. Every chapter is page after page of He, he, he, hehehehe, She, she, he, she, he, he, he.
Rating? I don't it's fair for me to give one, since I didn't actually read it. I just gotta say, after two Agatha Christie books it was not pretty.
Read again? Not physically able to read theh first time.
You read? If you like drivel. It was worse than Twilight. I'm completely serious; at least Twilight was easy to read.
Age level: I don't know. I didn't actually read it.
PS I got this book because I'd read the authors previous one, Pirates! when I was like 16. I thought I'd liked it. I think I misremembered.
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Purge by Sofi Oksanen
Oh, boy.
This is another from the ASD (Accidental Series of Death and yes I'm going to go google ASD to see what traffic I am about to bring to my blog... Atrial Septal Defect, apparently. I think I know someone with that, actually. Huh). And boy does it make those previous ones look good.
This book is an incredibly graphic look into the years of Soviet Occupation of Estonia and afterwards, into sex trafficking. Very graphic. I think it's actually a little worse than Blindness.
On the other hand, I really like this book. I can't help it. The characters are just so interesting, even when they're not likable they are relatable and throughout the whole thing I just wanted to know if Hans was gonna survive or if he would ever see his wife whose name is not in the Wikipedia article. Argh. This blog is fast losing the professionalism my mom so wanted me to have.
The book is very jumpy and completely out of order. The style kept me guessing but for some it may be really really confusing. It might help to make a timeline and keep filling it in as the book goes on.
Rating? Very good.
Read again? Very likely.
You read? If you're old enough to handle it then definitely.
Age? College age and up. No way I'd give this to a younger teen. No. Way. But it's good so read it when you're older.
This is another from the ASD (Accidental Series of Death and yes I'm going to go google ASD to see what traffic I am about to bring to my blog... Atrial Septal Defect, apparently. I think I know someone with that, actually. Huh). And boy does it make those previous ones look good.
This book is an incredibly graphic look into the years of Soviet Occupation of Estonia and afterwards, into sex trafficking. Very graphic. I think it's actually a little worse than Blindness.
On the other hand, I really like this book. I can't help it. The characters are just so interesting, even when they're not likable they are relatable and throughout the whole thing I just wanted to know if Hans was gonna survive or if he would ever see his wife whose name is not in the Wikipedia article. Argh. This blog is fast losing the professionalism my mom so wanted me to have.
The book is very jumpy and completely out of order. The style kept me guessing but for some it may be really really confusing. It might help to make a timeline and keep filling it in as the book goes on.
Rating? Very good.
Read again? Very likely.
You read? If you're old enough to handle it then definitely.
Age? College age and up. No way I'd give this to a younger teen. No. Way. But it's good so read it when you're older.
Before I Fall/ Delirium by Lauren Oliver
First of all: Before I Fall is NOT a prequel to Delirium. If you think that, you will start out the former and quickly become very confused. Not that I did that. Nope. Not at all.
Second of all: I'm reviewing books like this because during the last month of school I rediscovered libraries and went a little nuts but I still had homework to do. These books and the previous two entries are all included in that series of books which I shall refer to as the Accidental Series of Death. Really bummed myself out those last couple weeks. Had a nightmare I was in a horror movie and everything. One guy got hanged. One guy fell into a rabbit hole or something. It was weird. Don't read these books all in a row.
BIF: Good enough for a emotional read. It's about this girl in high school who is popular or something and she dies. The end. Or is it? Nope! She relives her last day 7 times. Interesting concept, interesting read, bummer of an ending.
Rating? Ok to Good.
Read again? I don't think so.
You read? If you were gonna pick one I'd pick Delirium.
Age level? Teen (btw losing virginity was something that was supposed to happen on last day and it comes up a lot)
Delirium: What if love was considered a disease? I know what you're thinking! Do you mean boy/girl love or family love too? Oliver kinda doesn't answer that one. She focuses on the boy/girl because this is a love story but also refers to other kinds of love being evidenced by those the procedure doesn't work on. But I was confused because staying about from boys and not falling in love with boys doesn't mean I'm not gonna love my friends and my siblings... But I guess the totalitarian government didn't care about that so... Interesting concept, interesting read, bummer of an ending but less so because I read the last chapter when I was 3/4 through the book.
Rating? Good enough.
Read again? Posible.
You read? It's an interesting book. So sure.
Age? Teen; similar reasoning to above.
One last thought; Oliver is tricky. I kept wanting to say these are original books but... Groundhog Day. Equilibrium. Nuff said.
Second of all: I'm reviewing books like this because during the last month of school I rediscovered libraries and went a little nuts but I still had homework to do. These books and the previous two entries are all included in that series of books which I shall refer to as the Accidental Series of Death. Really bummed myself out those last couple weeks. Had a nightmare I was in a horror movie and everything. One guy got hanged. One guy fell into a rabbit hole or something. It was weird. Don't read these books all in a row.
BIF: Good enough for a emotional read. It's about this girl in high school who is popular or something and she dies. The end. Or is it? Nope! She relives her last day 7 times. Interesting concept, interesting read, bummer of an ending.
Rating? Ok to Good.
Read again? I don't think so.
You read? If you were gonna pick one I'd pick Delirium.
Age level? Teen (btw losing virginity was something that was supposed to happen on last day and it comes up a lot)
Delirium: What if love was considered a disease? I know what you're thinking! Do you mean boy/girl love or family love too? Oliver kinda doesn't answer that one. She focuses on the boy/girl because this is a love story but also refers to other kinds of love being evidenced by those the procedure doesn't work on. But I was confused because staying about from boys and not falling in love with boys doesn't mean I'm not gonna love my friends and my siblings... But I guess the totalitarian government didn't care about that so... Interesting concept, interesting read, bummer of an ending but less so because I read the last chapter when I was 3/4 through the book.
Rating? Good enough.
Read again? Posible.
You read? It's an interesting book. So sure.
Age? Teen; similar reasoning to above.
One last thought; Oliver is tricky. I kept wanting to say these are original books but... Groundhog Day. Equilibrium. Nuff said.
Rot and Ruin/Death and Decay by Jonathan Maberry
I read the first of this series last summer and have been procrastinating writing about it ever since; now that I've read the sequel, I will give you my opinion and a sum up.
Good schtuff: Good writing. It's a series about what it would be like to live in a zombie infested world. Maberry looks into the ethics of the situations in a good way. What I mean by that is: instead of having a character shoot a zombie and then cry for a while like a sissy because zombies are people too, he... well... here's a made up conversation that sums up a book.
Bad guy: I'm really evil. I throw children to zombies and take bets on how long they'll live.
Main character's brother who is a samurai for reasons that make sense: That is ethically not good.
Bad guy: It totally is fine! I'mma murder everybody who says otherwise.
Main character: I will now rescue everyone and learn a life lesson.
Haha but seriously. Zombies, samurai, crazy people. It's a pretty decent series so far.
Bad schtuff: Immortal main characters. Not, like, as a plot point. the author just likes them too much. Also sadness. So much sadness. Just so sad. Mainly because the author has no qualms about murdering the fiffle out of minor characters.
Rating? Very good.
Read again? Yesh.
You read? Yesh.
Age level: teen + as long as they can hand blood n' guts.
Good schtuff: Good writing. It's a series about what it would be like to live in a zombie infested world. Maberry looks into the ethics of the situations in a good way. What I mean by that is: instead of having a character shoot a zombie and then cry for a while like a sissy because zombies are people too, he... well... here's a made up conversation that sums up a book.
Bad guy: I'm really evil. I throw children to zombies and take bets on how long they'll live.
Main character's brother who is a samurai for reasons that make sense: That is ethically not good.
Bad guy: It totally is fine! I'mma murder everybody who says otherwise.
Main character: I will now rescue everyone and learn a life lesson.
Haha but seriously. Zombies, samurai, crazy people. It's a pretty decent series so far.
Bad schtuff: Immortal main characters. Not, like, as a plot point. the author just likes them too much. Also sadness. So much sadness. Just so sad. Mainly because the author has no qualms about murdering the fiffle out of minor characters.
Rating? Very good.
Read again? Yesh.
You read? Yesh.
Age level: teen + as long as they can hand blood n' guts.
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