Dead Beautiful

This post first published May 18, 2011.

Author: Yvonne Woon
Published: May 2010
Publisher: Disney Press
Series: Dead Beautiful #1
455 pages (hardcover)
 
I took this out totally knowing this was a YA paranormal romance, and kind of guessed it was going to be like Twilight, Hush Hush, Beautiful Creatures, etc. I guess my expectations were a bit low for the book, but Dead Beautiful really surprised me. It definitely bears similarities to other YA paranormal romances out in the market, but takes it in a bit of a different direction, one that I happened to enjoy.

Renee Winters discovers the dead bodies of her parents on her sixteenth birthday. Thinking life couldn’t get much worse, her grandfather (and legal guardian) decides it would be best to ship her off to boarding school, to the Gottfried Academy, across the country — away from all her friends, her boyfriend, and life as she knows it. Reluctant at first, Renee becomes intrigued by her new environment. She doesn’t study normal high school subjects like math or chemistry, but instead attends classes on Crude Sciences, Latin and Horticulture. She also discovers that a student died last year on campus, in the same mysterious way her parents did. Last but not least, there is Dante Berlin: the most gorgeous and perplexing boy in the school. She feels drawn to him, but can’t help but notice that there is something very unnatural about him, and the Academy.

When I first cracked this book open and started reading the first few chapters, I couldn’t help but notice that it was kind of like Twilight and Harry Potter mixed together. The Academy reminds me of Hogwarts because all the teachers are called professors, and they take these strange classes, strict uniforms and work by candlelight in an ancient building. The relationship between Renee and Dante is incredibly reminiscent of Bella and Edward; in fact, Dante is Edward, he acts exactly the same as him, except instead of being a vampire, he’s just plain undead (which I don’t feel is a spoiler because it’s so incredibly obvious from the get-go). There’s the inexplicable attraction, being a new student in town, the unnaturally cold skin, super healing powers … but those are kind of minor compared to some of the scenes that feel like they were pulled straight from Twilight — meeting in a biology-esque class and initially not getting along, and the scene with ‘How old are you?’ ‘Seventeen’ ‘How old are you really?’, which mirrors Twilight’s ‘How long have you been seventeen?’ scene.

Most of the similarities and whatnot occur in the beginning of the novel. If you can get past the similarities, this book is actually an interesting read, despite what I think is a bit of a weak beginning. Once you are at the part of the book where Renee starts digging into the secrets of Gottfried Academy, which isn’t that far into the book, I found the story rather engaging. The plot veers sharply away from Harry Potter and Twilight, and instead, is a bit of a mystery book, because Renee wants to find out the truth behind her parents’ deaths, and the truth behind the strange occurrences at her new school. That is what kept me reading. I mean, it was a tad predictable, like when Renee’s roommate vanishes and everyone’s wondering what happened to her; I kind of figured out what misfortune befell her rather quickly. Still, I like it, and I think it was because it wasn’t as romance-y as other YA paranormal romances. Renee and Dante’s relationship figures prominently in the novel, and yes there are tons of unrealistic romantic scenes with cheesy dialogue, but it isn’t the most central part of the novel, which I was thankful for because honestly, their relationship was too eerily similar to Bella and Edward’s, and it was all kind of predictable that way.

The ending of the novel moved kind of too fast, as if it was all crammed in. Despite that, I think it was okay, although I’m curious as to how the sequel (yes, there is going to be a sequel) is going to work out, considering how it all ended … Well, we’ll see. I’m actually interested enough to read the sequel when it comes out. Overall, this is a decent novel, and I recommend this to people who are into the YA paranormal romance scene, which seems to be quite popular these days.

My Rating: 3/5

The Handmaid's Tale

This post first published May 17, 2011.

Author: Margaret Atwood
Published: 1985
Publisher: Thorndike Press
358 pages (paperback)
 
I’ve heard some things about this book before, mostly from friends who have had to study it in school. Myself, I’ve only read a few poems by the author. I’ve never actually read any of her novels, so this is my first Atwood book. Anyway, I was really looking for Year of the Flood at the library, but when I saw this book, I decided to take it out as well; as far as I know, it’s one of Atwood’s most famous works.

The story does not reveal itself in a straight forward manner; rather, it reveals bits and pieces of the narrator’s life at a time, and not always in order, so that you are required to piece together what the world is like yourself. As a result, when you first begin to read the story, it may seem confusing and a bit disjointed, but gradually you come to understand that this all takes place sometime in the future, where the USA has been taken over by “Gilneans” — from what I understand, they are some sort of extreme Christianity group.

In this world, the birth rate in the USA has dropped to astonishingly low rates, and more often than not, babies are born deformed or mutated in some way. Our main character Offred (whose real name is not revealed) is a Handmaid, a woman who is established to be fertile and assigned to a Commander and his Wife to bear children for them. Every month, Offred, the Commander and the Commander’s Wife perform the Ceremony — Offred lies on top of the Wife while the Commander performs intercourse with Offred. If Offred becomes pregnant and gives birth to a Keeper baby, then the baby becomes the Commander’s and his Wife, and Offred will be assigned to a new family to have children for them. This new world is supposed to make women safer and protected, from the violence and the rapes and other things that happen to women in the 20th century, but instead, Offred has no freedom and has become nothing but an empty person whose only purpose is to breed. She frequently has flashbacks to ‘the time before’, with her husband and her daughter, and wonder what has become of them.

This was a very interesting book. What fueled me to keep reading is that I kept asking ‘Why?’ questions. Every new thing that Offred reveals about the world she is now in had me intrigued. This book really had me thinking, it is so thought provoking. It had me thinking about things like how the women were being treated as in this book — in the book, it says that the new world is very pro-woman compared to ‘the time before’, but of course, at the same time, it seems so very archaic, as the women are being treated as property, or in the case of the Handmaids, less than human. They are only here for breeding purposes.

The book also makes one think about sexuality; sex is strictly forbidden unless authorized between the right people (for example, a Handmaid and her Commander), and even then, it is considered ‘business’, because it’s only for the purpose of breeding. Neither the Handmaid nor the Commander really take pleasure in doing it. Sex as a recreational activity has been drilled into everyone’s mind as a sin. Yet at the same time, Offred finds out that the ruling elite have prostitution houses set up in secret. Kind of makes you think about human nature, not just sex, but how people can be so very hypocritical as well.

There’s many, many other themes and topics to think about in this book, including religion, feminism, knowledge … What I found interesting, and a little scary, is the message in the book that people will go along with just about anything as long as there is a little compensation for it, even if the compensation is not very much. Surely no woman likes this new world where females are treated as second rate citizens, or like they are not human at all, but as long as you give a few select women some small measure of power (such as the Wives, or the Aunts), they will simply let it all happen and not fight back. The women with the most power (which is not a lot) will keep the other women in line.

I really liked this book, it was truly stimulating to read it. After finishing the last page, you can’t help but relate our own present world to the world inside the book. I highly recommend reading this if you are looking for a piece of good literature; very thought provoking!

My Rating: 5/5

Catching Fire

This post first published May 13, 2011.

Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: September 2009
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Series: The Hunger Games #2
391 pages (hardcover)
 
Yay, I finally got myself a copy of Catching Fire so I can continue where The Hunger Games left off. I also have myself a copy of Mockingjay so I can jump right into the last book of the trilogy too without having to wait!
We left off in The Hunger Games with Katniss and Peeta both winning the Games. Having two victors instead of the usual one has had reverberating effects across the country of Panem. Katniss, the main character and our narrator, is shocked to find the President casually sitting in her home one day. Under the guise of coming to congratulate her and preparing her for the upcoming tour of the country, the President warns Katniss that her little act of love with Peeta hasn’t fooled him or other people in the country. He and many others know she is trying to fool the government into allowing the both of them to live, and he isn’t buying it. He warns her she better convince him, and everyone else, of her and Peeta’s undying love for one another, for their sake and her family’s, for you see, by allowing two victors, they are showing defiance against the Capitol’s rules.

However, as the tour begins, Katniss learns that she has unknowingly spearheaded a rebellion that is slowly but surely growing across the country. Unknowingly, she has become a symbol of hope for the rebels. Just as Katniss decides to start embracing this rebellion, the President announces that the next Hunger Games is going to be composed of previous victors — putting Katniss right back into that arena of death that she just barely escaped from a year ago.

Overall, I liked the story, especially the idea of a rebellion forming because of Katniss, although I was feeling slightly exasperated in a  “Are you effing kidding me?” way when I found out she had to be going back in the arena. I didn’t want to read The Hunger Games Round Two. I was expecting a continuation of the story, not the first book repackaged. In some ways, it was the same thing all over again — the interviews, the training, the arena — but the motivations were all different this time. At the present moment, I’m kind of neutral to that part of the plot.

One thing that I appreciate in this book (and the one before) is that the story moves quickly, never boring me. There’s no needless information bogging you down, and neither are you ever missing out or confused about anything. On the topic of writing though, one thing I noticed is that her writing has a very … monotonous quality to it. Katniss just describes things as they are, putting very little to no emotion in what she is saying. Even with feelings being hurt, tension in the air and people dying. It’s kind of strange and bothers me a little, but I guess it just kind of contributes to the fast pace of the story. I’m not sure if I noticed this robot-like voice when I read The Hunger Games, but I notice it now.

I’m not too crazy about the love triangle thing that is emerging in this novel. For one, it’s like, is it neccesary? I don’t think it adds that much to the story; in fact, I think you can take out Gale and still have essentially the same story. Secondly, Peeta and Gale are like … exactly the same characters. Both kind of bland, both desperately in love with Katniss for some reason. They are two characters with the same personality. There is really very little to differentiate between the two boys. So I don’t understand what the problem is, Katniss — just choose one of them, they’re the same!
I think this book is, in my opinion, a solid three: enjoyable but nothing special. I haven’t read book three yet, but I get the feeling this is one of those in-between books — there to bridge the time between two others. I loved The Hunger Games, and I see big things, large consequences, in store in Mockingjay, but I get the feeling that Catching Fire will be easily forgotten in my mind.

Anyway, to sum it all up — you’re going to probably end up reading this book if you’re planning to read this series, so whether I recommend it to you or not doesn’t really matter :P My personal opinion is that this is an okay book, but it kind of fades in the back of my mind — the first book did a good job of making an impression on me; this one, not so much, although the ending does have me wanting more ;)

My Rating: 3/5

The Way Of Kings

This post first published May 12, 2011.

Author: Brandon Sanderson
Published: 2010
Publisher: Tor Books
Series: The Stormlight Archive #1
1004 pages (hardcover)
 
Like many other Wheel of Time fans, I became interested in Brandon Sanderson’s works after him being chosen to complete Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series. This is the first work I’ve ever read of Sanderson’s, and it actually is his most recent. The Stormlight Archive is planned to be a 10 book series at the moment, which is kind of daunting given the first book is just over a thousand pages on its own (but wait! you might be thinking. The longest book you’ve read is 1200 pages! Yes, but this book is a large hardcover novel. In paperback, I’m sure this will be about the same, or exceed). My general feelings towards the book is mostly positive, though I did find some issues with it, which I will explain after I attempt to summarize this behemoth :P

To very briefly summarize the setting, a long time ago, the Almighty made Shardplate and Shardblades (magic armor and weapons) for the Knights Radiant who fight against the Voidbringers. One day, the Knights Radiant gave up their Shardplates and Blades and left, abandoning mankind (so the legends speak). The regular humans started fighting over the Shardplates and Blades that the Knights left behind. In present time, there’s a bunch of highprinces fighting on the Shattered Plains against a people called the Parshendi for gemhearts from monsters, as well as trying to claim Shardplates and Blades from one another.

The world this story takes place in has quickly become one of my favourite fictional worlds. There are frequent storms called highstorms, and somehow, these storms give off a sort of energy or light. This light is found in their money, which are spheres. People like to leave their spheres out in the storms so they can be infused with stormlight. It doesn’t really up the value of the money or anything — it’s like the difference between a crisp new dollar bill and a wrinkled one. Anyway, the stormlight also seems to be the thing that empowers the Shardplates, and one of the characters, Kaladin, seems to be able to use stormlight too … Anyway, the frequency of the highstorms in this world has completely shaped the terrain, the flora and fauna, and the way humans live in this world.

There’s many characters, but three I consider the main characters — Kaladin, Dalinar and Shallan. In the context of this first book, I only really consider the first two to be of any significance, but anyway … each character has their own separate plotline for the most part, only vaguely related to one another. Kaladin is my favourite to read about in this book; I found him the most interesting. Kaladin was betrayed by his highprince and sent to work as a slave in bridgecrews. Kaladin has the pleasure of meeting Syl, who he believes to be a windspren (which I think is like a little fairy thing … and super cute). She follows him around and later, they develop a supernatural bond to one another. Dalinar is a highprince of Alethkar, the uncle to the current king, and currently leading his troops in fighting on the Shattered Plains. He gets strange visions whenever there’s a highstorm. And lastly, Shallan is a young woman trying to become a ward of the Princess Jasnah, with an ulterior motive.
One of the issues I had with this book was that for a long time, I wasn’t sure what the overall plot was. I understood the characters’ separate stories perfectly well, but I wasn’t sure what tied them together. By the end of the novel, I have a better understanding, though truth be told, it is still not crystal clear to me (most of all, Shallan’s part of the story). I’m not really sure who the villain is either, if there is one, though to be fair, the characters provide enough internal turmoil to fight against already, haha. The characters are really wonderfully thought out.

This is a very long book, and in my opinion, unnecessarily lengthy. I’m almost positive it can be shaved down to 800 pages or even less.The beginning was quite slow and a little difficult to get into, and there is a lot of background information thrown at you. There are some chapters, scenes and interludes that had me wondering what the point of it was. However, if you remain patient, the book begins to pick up around the 500-page mark (yes, you must be really patient). After that point, it becomes quite exciting and intriguing. The last 150 pages or so? I was glued to the book. For a book that started off kind of so-so, I’m very excited for the second book to be published now.

This is an epic fantasy, but not really in the same vein as Tolkein or Robert Jordan where we have a bunch of characters going on a journey to vanquish some evil. Like I mentioned earlier, this has a lot more to do with characters. The biggest theme in this book was leadership. I was actually quite impressed with a lot of the leadership philosophies presented in this book. Another theme was truth. The characters struggle with themselves for the most part, in trying to figure out what is right and what is wrong, legally and morally. As much as I love a good plot-driven book, I also love stories that deal with humanity trying to differentiate between black and white.

Do I recommend this book? I’m going to say yes, but not to everyone. This one book alone is quite a time investment, because like I said, the beginning can feel drawn out and the lack of a unified plot may be a bit frustrating. However, if you are optimistic like me … or maybe just want to explore a unique world … and believe there’s great things in store for this series, then I think for sure, you should check this out :)

My Rating: 3.5/5

The Last Olympian

This post first published on May 9, 2011.

Author: Rick Riordan
Published: 2008
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Series: Percy Jackson & The Olympians #5
382 pages (paperback)
 
This is the final book of the Percy Jackson & The Olympian series (although, if I am correct, there is a spin off series or something in existence) and boy, what an awesome roller coaster ride it was. The Last Olympian is non-stop action, from the very first page to the last. There is always something happening. The story flies by and before you know it, you’re done the book! Even though it is the longest book in the series, it felt like the shortest because there was never a dull moment. Without a doubt, this is the best installment in the series — and isn’t it awesome when the final book of a series ends on such a satisfying note?

The story opens up with Percy and a fellow camper on a bombing mission to destroy Kronos’ ship, but it soon becomes apparent that there is a spy amongst Percy’s friends who is supplying Kronos with the demigods’ every move. Percy, his fellow campers and the gods of Olympus enter into the war against Kronos, who has more or less successfully come back to “life” and is preparing to attack Manhattan — specifically the Empire State Building, where on the 600th floor, Mount Olympus resides. At the same time, there is the constant threat of the greatest Titan monster ever, Typhon, who Percy accidentally released from his prison a book ago. He’s stomping his way across the United States to New York, leaving a trail of devastation behind him. Oh, and while all this is happening, Chiron and Annabeth decide it’s time to reveal the full Great Prophecy to Percy — which causes Percy to question everything he’s been doing up till now.

I think what I loved about the plot in this particular book (besides the speedy action)  is that there’s a lot of intrigue and mystery involved, which kept me guessing and wondering. I just had to keep reading! For example, who is the spy at Camp Half Blood that is actually working for Kronos? What is this mysterious past of Luke’s that Hermes and Annabeth don’t really want to talk about in front of Percy? Who the heck is Rachel Elizabeth Dare really, claiming to be a mortal then doing all these non-mortalish things? And for goodness’ sake, what is the Great Prophecy really all about?? I was positively captivated by the story, and my curiousity kept me glued to the pages.

As with the final book of any series, the ending is doubly important because not only is it the ending for the book, it’s also the ending for the entire series. I’m very happy that the ending satisfied me (though I felt the denouement was a little meh, but I will survive). It tied up all loose ends (that I can think of), there’s a general sense of triumph and accomplishment among the characters, and really, it’s just a great feel-good ending to an epic adventure. For those of you reading this series, trust me: you have a lot to look forward to in this last book and I’m sure it will be one of your favourites in the series.

My Rating: 5/5

Pegasus

This post first published May 7, 2011.

Author: Robin McKinley
Published: November 2010
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
404 pages (hardcover)
 
I love Robin McKinley. She’s amazing at retelling fairy tales, and some of my favourite books of her’s includes Spindle’s End, Rose Daughter and Beauty. So when I saw Pegasus sitting in the new books section of my library, I picked it up without a second thought. Unfortunately, I was horribly, horribly disappointed with this book … I felt so let down. It’s Robin McKinley! I thought I was in for a real stellar story but I got … the opposite of a stellar story.

The premise sounds interesting enough (if not slightly odd): in this world, pegasi are a ‘people’ — they are just as intelligent as people and they have their own mini-civilization and everything. There’s a pegasus king and a pegasus queen, and they have pegasus princes and princesses. There are pegasus shamans and sculptors and servants and, well, ‘regular people’. They have buildings, they can do crafts and make paper and bags and … well, you get the idea.

In this world, the royal humans are bound to a pegasus; not like pets or anything, oh no! This binding or bonding is an ancient tradition from centuries ago when the Alliance formed between the humans and the pegasi. Anyway, the main character of this novel is Sylvi, and the story begins with her being afraid of her bonding ceremony to her pegasus, Ebon. The rest of the plot can be really easily summarized: Sylvi and Ebon realize they can actually mind-speak with one another and become super good buddies, which freaks out one of the human magicians, Fthoom, because this is not supposed to happen and he’s convinced that such a bond will bring disaster to their Alliance. At one point, Ebon invites Sylvi to visit him in his pegasus country. She goes, a change happens to her in that she feels more connected to the pegasi than ever. (!!! sort of spoiler-ish but I really don’t think so !!!) She comes back to the human country where rocs and other  intelligent monster bird creatures are preparing to attack their country, at the same time Fthoom finds evidence that Sylvi and Ebon’s relationship really is disastrous for their countries. (!!! end spoilers !!!) 

The plot moved so slow. It was, for lack of a better word, boring. I could not comfortably read this book in a sitting or two — small doses is what got me through it. I felt like often the narration beats around the bush, repeating things that have already been driven into my head multiple times earlier, and is just … slow. The first half of the novel is mostly just explaining the world of the pegasus, and a lot of background information regarding the Alliance and how it came to be.

The last 30% of the novel, according to some reviewers on Goodreads, is more action-filled and gripping, but I did not find it that way, personally. The entire thing, from beginning to end, was sluggish. I don’t know what action those reviewers were referring to; I didn’t find any. I don’t know if I even experienced the climax of the story. I’m not even really sure what the conflict is, or was. And the ending was really sudden. It’s a cliffhanger, which surely means there’s a sequel coming soon (which, at this moment, I don’t plan on reading). It didn’t even really feel like a cliffhanger, it just felt like the story abruptly ended, in a place it shouldn’t have. I feel that, since this entire book felt like one big Pegasus 101 textbook, the sequel should have just been merged into this book to make one book. There’s no need for two books, because there pretty much nothing happened in this first book, so if there is actually a conflict or a plot in the second one that continues this story, I feel it should just have been all put together in one package.

That’s all just my personal opinion though. From what I can tell, it seems people are pretty split on this book. There are many who feel the way I do, but there are also some who felt Pegasus was an enjoyable read (though they agree the beginning, at least, was slow). Anyway, I don’t really recommend reading this book, especially if you want to try some of Robin McKinley’s work; she has so many better novels published, and Pegasus is not one of them.

My Rating: 1/5

The Battle of the Labyrinth

This post first published May 5, 2011.

Author: Rick Riordan
Published: 2008
Publisher: Hyperion
Series: Percy Jackson & The Olympians #4
361 pages (paperback)
 
Percy Jackson once again manages to somehow blow up another school, and as usual, is grateful that it’s summer vacation so he can go hide out in Camp Half-Blood. Really, mortal troubles are the least of his problems when there’s possibly another war with the Titans approaching. During a game of Capture The Flag at camp, Percy and Annabeth stumble upon an entrance to the Labyrinth — an enormous underground maze that spans pretty much the entire country. Their worst fears are realized when they find out that Luke — their enemy — already knows about the Labyrinth and they worry that he will use it invade the camp with his army. The only thing probably stopping him is the fact that the Labyrinth is so complicated, people have gone mad trying to find their way out of it. Percy and his friends decide they still can’t take any risks, so they seek out Daedalus, the maker of the Labyrinth, to try to persuade him to not help Luke. Problem is, Daedalus lives inside the Labyrinth …

That’s pretty much the plot in a nutshell. Truth be told, I didn’t find this book that fun to read, unlike the previous ones in this series. I haven’t read book five yet, but I’m pretty sure The Battle of the Labyrinth is the weakest book in the series. For one, it was really long. I know what you’re thinking: “Uh, you’ve read thousand page books before, and you’re complaining about a 360 page book?” Um … yes. If you have enough of an interesting story, page number doesn’t matter, but for the story this book told, I feel it dragged on a little too long. Many parts felt sluggish and slow, and honestly, their adventure in the Labyrinth wasn’t as adventuresome as it could have been. I pretty much ho-hummed my way through.

Another reason I didn’t find this book as awesome as its predecessors is the fact that this book utilized a lot of visions and dreams on Percy’s part in order to tell events that happening to other characters elsewhere. It’s cool to use it once or twice, but I just felt like a lot of crucial background information scenes were being told through Percy having a dream, or being sent a vision by a mysterious benefactor, and it was all a little too convenient.

But of course, if you’re reading this series, you’re going to have to eventually read this book. It’s by no means terrible, but when the first three books are generally really awesome, you may find The Battle of the Labyrinth a bit underwhelming. On the bright side, the next — and final — book of the series is, according to my friend, really good and one of her favourites, so I am looking forward to reading it and finding out what happens between Olympus, the Titans, and Percy in the finale.

My Rating: 2.5/5

The Titan's Curse

This post first published May 4, 2011.

Author: Rick Riordan
Published: 2007
Publisher: Hyperion
Series: Percy Jackson & The Olympians #3
312 pages (paperback)
 
Books one and two were the beginnings of an epic adventure and were stepping stones to a larger story. In book three, The Titan’s Curse, the series’ plot really starts to unfold itself. This is, so far, my favourite book in the series. There was a real sense of saving-the-world, a real epic feeling involved in this book.

In book three, Percy, Annabeth and new companion Thalia are scouting out two possible new half-blood recruits, Nico and Bianca. With the help of Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, and her band of Hunters, they manage to temporarily ward off the dangerous servant of Kronos who tried to stop them. Afterwards, Artemis leaves on her own to hunt down a dangerous monster believed to have the power to destroy Mount Olympus, but to everybody’s horror, Artemis becomes kidnapped! Percy and his friends must find Artemis, and quickly, before the Winter Solstice, when the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus gather together to decide on how they will deal with the impending second war with the Titans.

There’s definitely something different about this book compared to the first two. Oh, it is definitely just as funny and adventurous, but something about the plot made it not quite as light hearted as The Lightning Thief or The Sea of Monsters. Like I mentioned before, I think starting with this book, the series’ plot’s complexities are starting to be revealed; that Percy’s story is not as simple as going from Quest A to Quest B. The first two books dealt with minor adventures; this third book reveals that there is something way more sinister working in the background. Because of that, there is a greater sense of urgency and seriousness that the characters must take on. The climax of the story, in particular, was an incredibly epic battle. As usual, things happened in the fight that made me laugh or snicker, but I think overall, this has been one of the more serious scenes in the series thus far. I mean, there were real deaths in this book!

The characters certainly have matured, if only by a little bit. The characters are what, fourteen years old by now? Love and romance is definitely starting to poke its head through, to become a theme. More importantly though, loyalty and friendship shine through. Throughout the novel, Percy has to cope with thinking he has lost friends, and what he could have done, or can do now, to help them. Of course, he has always cared about his friends before, but there is something more mature in the way he is tackling the situation now. I think this is most exemplified when Percy is told that his fatal flaw as a hero are his loved ones.

The only thing that bothered me was Thalia’s introduction and to some extent, her role. In book two, it ended off on a cliffhanger — Thalia, daughter of Zeus, has been “brought back alive”. I guess I expected some sort of flashback at least that explained how Percy and Annabeth handled the whole situation initially now that the daughter of Zeus is among them, but The Titan’s Curse opened up in such a way that it felt like Thalia has been adventuring with Percy since book one, like she’s always been there and is not a new addition to Percy’s posse. Then, at the end of this book, Thalia basically decides she’s not going to adventure with Percy anymore. So I guess what bugged me was that Thalia was a main character for one book, possibly as a replacement for Annabeth, who was missing for the majority of the novel, and now that Annabeth has returned, Thalia conveniently finds a reason to remove herself from the main action. I guess I expected more from the daughter of Zeus.

Anyway, to sum it all up — The Titan’s Curse is definitely one of the best installments of this series :) If you are reading this series as well, I’m sure book three will rank somewhere in the top for you as well. I’m really excited to start on book four now!

My Rating: 4/5

The Sea Of Monsters

This post first published on May 4, 2011.

Author: Rick Riordan
Published: 2006
Publisher: Miramax
Series: Percy Jackson & The Olympians #2
279 pages (paperback)
 
Finally, finally, finally. These books are so popular at my library that I never even see them on the bookshelves, but on my last library trip, I finally saw them: books two through four. I would have grabbed all the way to book seven five (sorry, was thinking of Harry Potter) if they had it, but they didn’t, but still, I’m glad I’m finally able to continue reading this fun and cute story :)

In this second installment of the series, I am reintroduced to the lively and colourful world of the urbanized Greek gods and goddesses. And Percy Jackson, of course. It’s the last day of seventh grade for Percy and his new, misunderstood friend Tyson, and Percy hopes for the day to go smoothly so that he may go back to Camp Half-Blood for the summer. However, this is Percy, and of course, nothing ever goes smoothly for him. It turns out he may not get a chance to go back to the camp … possibly forever. Camp Half-Blood is in great danger: the magical tree of Thalia that protects the camp has been poisoned and is slowly but surely dying. Percy is determined to find a cure for the tree, or else the only place on earth where it is safe for a demigod to be — the only place where Percy has ever felt he belonged — will be gone.

The thing with the Percy Jackson books, that I feel like I must stress over and over again (because my friends give me the raised eyebrow whenever I say I’m reading the Percy Jackson books), is that it’s not “serious” at all like the movie portrayed it to be. These are humourous children’s (or tween) books that border on the silly side of things. So, my general thoughts about this book when I finished it were that it was fun and lighthearted, much like the first. I didn’t like it as much as the first book, but still a very enjoyable read!

In comparison to the first book, I felt the plot in this second installment was a bit less epic. From fighting the Titan lord Kronos in book one, to sailing in a ship to find the Golden Fleece to save Thalia’s tree in book two … well, you can see how one plot just seems more epic than the other. Not that the plot was in this book was bad or anything; I just mean, in relation. This book is probably just a stepping stone to the larger plot, maybe. I’m totally expecting a lot more from the next books in the series now! Considering how the book ended, I feel The Sea of Monsters is really acting as a bridge to connect book one to book three.

Anyway, if you have any sense of humour at all, I’m sure you’ll find this book hilarious. I mean, what do we have here? Cannibalistic giants with names like Joe Bob; the most adorable baby cyclops (who is also six feet three inches tall); a hippocampi (horse-fish hybrid animal) named Rainbow; a bunch of centaurs throwing a party and wearing T-shirts that say “Party Ponies”; a spa resort that turns men into guinea pigs (because actual pigs take up too much room) … I can go on and on, but you see what I mean about this book just being good fun, right? Some books I really need to concentrate when I read; others, like this book, I just have a blast.

The ending was interesting, actually. I didn’t expect a cliffhanger sort of ending because, if my memory serves me correctly, the first book didn’t end in a cliffhanger. I’m pretty sure it didn’t because I had no real desire to locate a copy of book two right away. But The Sea of Monsters ends in such a way that I am super curious to find out what happens next — and luckily, I have the third book sitting right next to me! I won’t spoil the ending, but let’s just say that the prophecy that involves Percy Jackson may or may not have become extra complicated due to recent events … haha. Actually, kind of reminds me of Harry Potter and his own prophecy. Ooooh, we’ll see what happens.

Expect a post about The Battle of the Labyrinth — HAHA oops, I meant The Titan’s Curse! — soon!

My Rating: 3/5

The Dragon Reborn

This post first published May 2, 2011.

Author: Robert Jordan
Published: 1991
Publisher: Tor Fantasy
Series: The Wheel of Time #3
674 pages (mass market paperback)
 
Long time no update! With final exams and personal life related stuff finally settling done, I found time to continue my reading endeavors, specifically with the Wheel of Time series. It’s been a long time since I read book two, but luckily I seem to have no trouble remembering what happened in previous installments of the series.

In the last book, Rand is proclaimed the Dragon Reborn and has to deal with knowing he is a man who can channel the Power. Men who can channel the Power are often thought to go mad, and Rand becomes pretty unstable in mood and even in personality, because sometimes the Power gets to him, and he is afraid to become mad. Rand eventually starts getting dreams about the sword Callandor which is located in the Stone of Tear. Prophecy says only the Dragon Reborn can hold that sword. Wanting to know if he is truly the Dragon Reborn, or simply a man going mad with the ability to channel, Rand escapes from his party towards Tear, prompting Moiraine, Lan, Perrin and Loial to chase after him.

In the meantime, Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne travel with the Aes Sedai Verin back to Tar Valon with an extremely weak Mat, who is slowly but surely dying from the cursed dagger he carries with him. The three girls are informed by the Amyrlin that while they were “away”, Liandrin — the Aes Sedai who “sold” them in book two — is actually of the Black Ajah, and has run away along with twelve of their Sisters (who are Black Ajah as well) and a bunch of stolen items. Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne are then given the task to reveal any more Black Ajah hiding amongst them in Tar Valon. Their mission eventually leads the three girls to Tear as well.

For a book titled “The Dragon Reborn”, Rand has a surprisingly small amount of chapters dedicated to him. Not that I really cared (as Rand is not a favourite character of mine or anything), or that it affected the story badly, but just something interesting to note, since he was the main character in the previous two books and I guess I assumed he would continue to be the main character in later book; however, I can see the series heading in more of the style of A Song of Ice and Fire, where there’s a bunch of main characters each with their own plotlines happening at once. Of course, Rand will always remain the one character whose presence is the most important! Well, we’ll see how it goes.

Oh, by the way, I am so happy that Mat has a bigger role in this book! I didn’t mention it when I was summarizing the plot, but Mat has a little bit of his own separate plotline as well in this book where he travels away from Tar Valon after being Healed by the Aes Sedai and anyway, long story short (because you should read this yourself!) he also ends up in Tear, where the climax of the story takes place. I’m really digging the whole idea of Mat being a gambler with Lady Luck on his side, haha.
Anyway, if you are reading this series, you will most certainly enjoy this book as well. I actually don’t have that much to say about this particular book besides just saying that I really enjoyed it and that I look forward to reading book four and seeing what the characters will do now, considering how this novel ended. I think with series books, it is much easier to talk about a series as a whole than individual books, but that’s just me.

My Rating 4/5

A Feast For Crows

This post was first published March 21, 2011.

Author: George R. R. Martin
Published: 2005
Publisher: Spectra
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire #4
976 pages (mass market paperback)
 
I finally got around to reading this fourth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. I surprised myself by finishing it rather quickly compared to the previous (and longer) books, but actually I found this one less interesting than the first three. I’m not saying I didn’t like it; I’m just saying, in comparison to the others, it didn’t hold my interest as well, despite me practically speed reading through it.

In this book, the War of the Five Kings is more or less ending since most of the kings have died. The kings that are left are Stannis and Tommen. Stannis has offered his assistance to the Night’s Watch in the far north, taking himself out of the war if only temporarily. King Tommen, only eight years old, sits the Iron Throne at King’s Landing, but in reality, his mother Cersei, is the regent and is the true ruler. Cersei seems to be going on a downward spiral in this book: she has the makings of an alcholic, is overly paranoid about Queen Margaery, the little wife his son Tommen married to solidify an alliance between their families, and is promoting and getting rid of all the wrong men.

To me, Cersei’s story seemed like the ‘main plot’ of the story, but of course, there are always many characters in this series, and each character has their own story to tell too. My favourite/interesting characters: Jaime Lannister seems to have had a change of heart since the last book and is disgusted with his sister’s actions, as well as trying to regain his lost honor and become a trustworthy person again. Sansa is playing the part of Petyr Baelish’s bastard daughter as he arranges a way for the two of them to take both the Eyrie and Winterfell.

Arya has managed to travel across the narrow sea to the eastern continent and work in the Temple of Black and White (which according to the Wikipedia page on this book, is some sort of assassins’ temple. I didn’t realize my Arya may be becoming a little assassin! That would be cool … except, based on how her chapters ended, I’m not quite sure what’s going to happen to her now that she’s possibly, uh, disabled). Arya, as I’ve mentioned before, is my favourite character, but I’m becoming increasingly disappointed with how far away from the main plot/action she is becoming, and her chapters in this book weren’t the most interesting to be honest. Actually, I’m kind of sad Winterfell and the Stark family in general is so removed now. They were the first characters you encountered in the very first book, they were so honorable and good, I fell in love with the family and it’s just so sad that for the past two books, they’ve had such small parts (well, so it felt, to me. I guess that last point is always arguable).

Brienne, normally one of my favourite characters, was pretty boring in this book to me. All she did was wander around looking for Sansa. Her chapters did end up being a little more interesting when she ran into none other than the living corpse of Lady Catelynn!

There were some other characters, like Victarion Greyjoy and Samwell and whatnot, but frankly I wasn’t really interested in those chapters. I think it’s just that there’s already SO many characters in this series, my brain is turning itself off from new characters being introduced or something. I don’t know. If something really cool happens with his story and plot, my mind will probably change. I was kind of hoping for more Asha because I like kick-ass women in this story, but sadly she has apparently ran off after unsuccessfully becoming Queen of the Iron Isles.

A Feast For Crows is actually part one of a larger book. You see, the author was writing the 4th book of the series but it turned out to be so long that he had to split it into two books; the first one being A Feast For Crows, and the second will be A Dance For Dragons, which will be released this July! It is not split right in the middle of the story, but rather by characters. In this book, we had the perspectives of Cersei, Samwell, Arya, etc. but none from Tyrion, Daenerys, Jon Snow and a bunch of other people who I have grown to miss. I’m very excited for book five to find out what they were up to while the events of A Feast For Crows was going on.

Anyway, my feelings about this book are generally positive. I don’t know, for some reason, it just didn’t seem as exciting as the first three books, but I definitely do like it and I eagerly await book five!

My Rating: 4/5

Confessions Of An Ugly Stepsister

This post originally published February 26, 2011.

Author: Gregory Maguire
Published: 1999
Publisher: HarperCollins
368 pages (hardcover)
 
This is a fairy tale retelling of the story of Cinderella. I love fairy tale retellings, and this one has a very interesting twist to it, because it is not told from the viewpoint of the title character, Cinderella, but rather, from one of the ugly stepsisters! Also, I’ve heard good things about this author, mainly because of another book of his (Wicked – which I’ve never read).

In this story, the ugly stepsisters are Iris, a plain Jane, and Ruth, a mentally challenged and physically unattractive girl. They, along with their mother Margarethe, run away from England for a reason that is not fully explained until the end of the novel, and head to Holland where they are hoping that Margarathe’s grandfather will take them in. Unfortunately, it turns out the grandfather has died years ago. With nowhere to go, Margarethe begs the people of the village to take her in. Eventually, she convinces a painter, Schoonmaker, to let them stay in his house in exchange for doing housekeeping and chores. As time passes, it looks as if Margarethe may marry Schoonmaker, but she is always aiming to go higher. Instead, she finds work for herself as the housekeeper in a somewhat wealthy merchant’s house, taking Iris and Ruth with her.

It is at this merchant’s house where Iris and Ruth meet Clara, who becomes their stepsister when Margarethe marries the merchant. Iris and Ruth, being rather unattractive themselves, are simply in awe at Clara’s beauty. However, Clara is a spoiled child, and never leaves the house, putting some doubt in the ugly sisters’ heads about whether beauty is worth it.

The plot is actually made to be much more complicated than the very straightforward traditional fairy tale, and I really love the plot. I was actually really impressed with it and I liked the idea of putting it in the “real world” (i.e. England, Holland) and not some made up place. The theme of beauty figures prominently in the story, and I really liked how the story uses painting and art to help emphasis the concept.

All the characters become fleshed out, with back stories, and because this book doesn’t have any magic in it, the characters also feel more like real people. I was surprised and also intrigued that Iris and Ruth are portrayed as kind hearted individuals in this book, despite the ugly stepsisters traditionally being the mean bullies. Cinderella was portrayed as opposite of the kind hearted girl in the original, and instead, is stubborn, spoiled and a bit arrogant. Margarethe is, well, same as in the fairy tale — just plain wicked! There are also new characters introduced; as mentioned, Schoonmaker the painter, as well as his apprentice Casper (who became my favourite character in this book, despite being a secondary character, heh).

Overall, I was impressed with this novel! I really enjoyed reading it, though I was a bit slow getting through it due to school and whatnot … plus, though I liked it, I didn’t feel the “addictiveness” that some books make me feel, where you just have to find out what happens so you sit and go through a zillion pages in one sitting. However, despite that, I was still really into the story and I’d definitely read more books by this author!

My Rating: 4/5

Sushi For Beginners

This post first published February 20, 2011.

Author: Marian Keyes
Published: 2003
Publisher: Penguin Books
426 pages (paperback)
 
This book took me forever to get through. It’s not that it was boring; it was alright, but just never quite interesting enough to hold onto my attention for longer than a few chapters.

If you’ve seen chick flicks such as Love, Actually or He’s Just Not That Into You, then you’ll understand the sort of structure this story has with its characters. There’s a bunch of main characters and they each have their own individual stories that somehow overlap with one another. Everyone is connected to everyone one way or another. Granted, this book has less characters than those movies I named, but you get the picture.
Anyway, because of this, it’s kind of hard to give a general plot overview but basically, there are three main female characters, and a whole bunch of secondary characters. The three main female characters — Ashling, Lisa and Clodagh — each are having different troubles in their romantic lives.

This book is about their troubles building up and eventually hitting a climax. Ashling — assistant editor of Colleen magazine — is a hard worker, but has trouble finding the right boyfriend for her. Lisa is Ashling’s boss (and therefore, editor of the magazine) and is more or less a complete bitch, encouraging her husband (whom she’s been separated for a year or so now) to divorce her, even though she is still madly in love with him. Lastly, Clodagh is Ashling’s friend and is married with two children. To everyone else she has the perfect family life, but Clodagh is horribly bored.

An issue I had with this book was that I never seemed to know where the plot was taking me. I mean, to be honest, I had a hard time putting my finger on what exactly the overall plot was, as I was reading. That’s not to say I found the book confusing or boring; it’s just that there’s nothing for me to anticipate and I had no expectations while reading the book, so I found it difficult to remain interested for long periods of time. I’d be mildly entertained for a few chapters, but found it incredibly easy to put the book down if I wanted to; this book had little addictiveness to me.

I personally didn’t find it that funny even though it’s categorized as humorous, though I admit it’s a little witty. Letting the story digest in my head for a few hours now, I think overall, this is a good, decent novel, but nothing really that special. It was a pleasant read, but nothing so amazing that you feel you just have to find out what happens next.

The characters were wonderful, I do have to say. Though I have probably nothing in common with most of the characters (them being thirty plus year old career women or married women and me … not), I think love and romance is one of those things nearly all women can easily relate to, as well as having to deal with crushes, unpleasant people, break-ups, etc. While I didn’t become attached to any of the characters, it was fun to read about their shenanigans, haha. Anyway, this was an alright book; I would try another book by this author.

PS. This book has very little to do with actual sushi, haha. Most of the characters are unfamiliar with sushi, actually. I think it’s used as a metaphor for trying new things in life :)

My Rating: 2.5/5

Beautiful Creatures

This post originally published February 15, 2011.

Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Published: 2009
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Series: The Caster Chronicles #1
563 pages (hardcover)
 
This is one of those books that had quite a bit of hype surrounding it, but ultimately didn’t really live up to expectations. It’s not terrible — it’s quite okay, in my opinion — but it fell a bit short of what I thought I was going to experience in this novel.

The main character is Ethan Wate, a boy living in a small Southern US town, the kind of town that’s proud of all its townspeople being descendants of someone or another from the Mayflower and don’t take too kindly to outsiders (unless they’re tourists). His dad has been a hermit in the study since their mom died, and Ethan is finding his semi-popular status at school tiring to keep up. He can’t wait to move out of here.

That is, until a very mysterious girl named Lena moves into town. Ethan already knew her before he officially met her. He’s seen her in his very real dreams, and it becomes apparent that she’s been having the same dreams as him. They become drawn to one another and fall in love. However, their relationship is extremely strained, not just because the entire town wants Lena to move away, not because by associating with her Ethan lost his ‘status’ at school and not because his Amma and Lena’s uncle want them to stay away from another … but also because Lena is a Caster, a person with supernatural powers. In fact, she comes from a family of casters where everyone has a unique supernatural gift (think Twilight’s Cullen family). And with her 16th birthday coming up, Lena’s going to be Claimed, but by Light or by Dark, nobody knows.

As I was reading, it felt to me that this book was published to profit off of the current popularity of YA paranormal romances. It just has a plot that feels rather formulaic, something similar that I’ve read in other YA paranormal romances. You know, new student in town falls in love with someone from a small town, but can’t be together for some supernatural reason. And of course, it’s a series, likely with 3 or 4 installments, I’m guessing. Beautiful Creatures does handle this formulaic plot better than most; I’d say out of all the YA paranormal romances using this formulaic plot, Beautiful Creatures is probably one of the better books out there.

The characters are generally pretty likeable (except the characters you’re supposed to hate, heh) though not necessarily all believable. I don’t know, I just feel most authors are out of touch with what high school students are really like, and they draw up stereotyped high school settings and characters instead. Still, I don’t find that a huge deal in this book. I surprised myself when I found myself actually enjoying Lena and Ethan’s relationship, though I have a hunch most people will find their true love unconvincing. Which is kind of true, but I don’t know, I still kind of liked it for some odd reason. It was kind of sweet, though it was awkwardly rushed (as in, BAM, they just randomly realized they’re in love one day), but I think that since the book is told in first person through Ethan’s eyes, it was a bit refreshing reading a YA paranormal romance through a male character’s perspective. Come to think of it, there aren’t very many YA romances told through a guy’s point of view … this may be a rare book, in that case! Hahaha. (Kidding, let me know if there are others though)!

The ending, to me, was a big let down. I was not impressed with the ending. Loose ends everywhere, so many things unexplained. It was undramatic, not climatic and left little to zero satisfaction in me as a reader. I mean, I know, there’s going to be a sequel, but that’s no reason to make the first book so incomplete. For example, what is up with Ethan’s mom and how did she know all this stuff? Where the heck did Sarafina disappear to at the end after trying to kill a bunch of people? Did she just … leave the scene? Sure, you can explain those things in book two … but really, these are the sort of things that should be explained in book one where it is more appropriate to do so.

I know it sounds like I’m bashing the book, and I guess I am a little bit, but overall, I did enjoy it, albeit mildly. I mean, I was by no means addicted to it, and it was not really a page-turner, but it was alright. A decent read, though unnecessarily lengthy for its story. I can see myself reading the rest of the series presently, but I’m not going to be actively on the look out for a copy. If I see one at the library, then I see it; otherwise, I don’t think this book left much of an impression on me. (As a side note, I love, love, love the cover. I think it’s gorgeous).

My Rating: 2/5

Shopaholic & Sister

This post first published February 13, 2011.

Author: Sophie Kinsella
Published: 2004
Publisher: The Dial Press
Series: Shopaholic #4
352 pages (hardcover)
 
I have been avoiding this particular installment of the Shopaholic series actually, mainly because it just didn’t seem interesting. I was really looking for Shopaholic Ties The Knot but it was unavailable at the library, and I was really itching for some more Shopaholic so I half reluctantly picked this out.

I’ll be honest though: I did end up liking this book. I don’t like it as much as I love the first two, but I do like it. Becky and Luke are back from their nearly-one-year long honeymoon traveling around the world (and Becky has, of course, sent home a load of “crap” with her which she is trying to figure out how to hide from Luke). Upon her return, she was most disappointed to find her family too busy to see her, and her best friend, Suze, seems to have found a new best friend during the year she was gone.

As if to answer her loneliness, Becky’s parents randomly appear at her flat one day to tell her very shocking news: Becky has a half-sister! Way back when, before Becky’s father met Becky’s mother, there was a stewardess on a train that he met … anyway, Becky becomes ecstatic to learn she has a sister and of course, her mind begins fantasizing all the fun she can have with her new sister. However, her new sister is nothing like she imagined. In fact, she’s quite the opposite of Becky. It came to a point where Becky isn’t even sure this can be her sister. Surely a sister of Becky can’t hate shopping.

As I said, I did end up liking it, though in comparison to the first two Shopaholic books, I found this one … average. Firstly, I wasn’t super keen on the idea of Becky finding a long lost sister in the first place, which explains why I have been avoiding the book in general. I mean, the story turned out alright, but in general, long lost sisters (or other family members) are not my cup-of-tea plots. And the way her sister was introduced into the story is just so random. It’s really just my personal preference of plot. Of course, if you don’t mind such a plot, or if you love stories like this, you’ll probably enjoy it.

The second reason I didn’t really like this book as much as the first two is Becky’s decline into becoming a cartoon character. I think I’ve mentioned this before in my post about the fifth book. First two books: Becky is still a believable albeit clumsy character. In this book (and the fifth one), Becky just becomes too unrealistic. In fact, I found myself really annoyed with Becky even though I am normally a fan of her. Like in the fifth book, Becky’s character overstepped the boundary between a believable airhead to just … stupid. I couldn’t believe how ignorant she could be when Luke and her sister and everyone was telling her to stop throwing her money away, and stop lying to people, but she comes up with these ridiculous fantasies how they’ll thank her later; too silly for me. I mean, I realize to some people, Becky’s always a silly character, but I don’t know; for some reason, to me, she seems to become too cartoon-ish.

However, overall, I did enjoy this book. It’s a pretty simple plot. I think what I liked was the contrast between Becky and her sister, and it was kind of nice having people finally just lash out on Becky for being a crazy spender. If you enjoy the Shopaholic series, I think you’ll like this book too, though I don’t know how well it would do as a stand alone novel.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Behemoth

This post first published February 12, 2011.

Author: Scott Westerfeld
Published: October 2010
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Series: Leviathan #2
481 pages (hardcover)
 
Okay, they do end up going on a ’round the world adventure. I retract my statement from my Leviathan post! (Though the dust jacket should have been more specific and meant across the trilogy … it made it sound like it would all happen in one book)! I digress.

This is book two of the Leviathan trilogy. I was excited to see a brand spanking new copy available at the library, since the first book is still very fresh in my head. Book two totally lived up to my expectations and didn’t let me down. It’s just as good, if not better, than the first one! I certainly feel that this one was more exciting, and I think I am a bigger fan of book two than book one (which was also great, of course).

In Behemoth, the great airship Leviathan lands in the Ottoman Empire, where Alek and his men decide to try to escape the ship where they are more or less held as prisoners. Unfortunately, plans never go as smoothly as you think they will, and only Alek and two others manage to get away; the other two willingly give themselves up to buy Alek time to escape. However, Alek isn’t about to abandon his other two comrades so easily.

Docked in the Ottoman Empire on the airship, Deryn/Dylan and Dr. Barlow realize that the empire is slowly being taken over by the Germans. Wanting to persuade the sultan to continue his friendship with Britain, the two attempt to offer the sultan a gift. Again, plans don’t go over too smoothly, and Dr. Barlow desperately offers the Leviathan to the sultan instead!

That’s how the story basically starts out. I was a little saddened that Deryn (whom I’ve become quite fond of, despite saying I was attached to nobody in the last book) and Alek were once again separated, but fear not, they meet again soon enough, when due to circumstances beyond their control, they need to work together along with some anarchists (or revolutionaries, depending on your point of view) of the Empire to overthrow the sultan and push the German out. If you’ve already read the first book, then this plot overview of the second one surely sounds more exciting, no??
I felt there was a lot more action, and more plot in general with this book. The characters seemed to become more ‘solidified’, if that makes sense. Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve taken a liking to Deryn despite previously saying I wasn’t fond of anyone. I’m also getting quite pumped up over Deryn’s crush on Alek. There’s quite a few times when I was so sure she would reveal she’s a girl to Alek (and there I was, gripping the pages intensely, completely into the scene), but she doesn’t, and I’m excited for book three, because surely she will reveal it to him then; it’s a trilogy, after all! I simply can’t wait for that to happen because, you know, I think they’d make a super cute couple. There’s also the whole ‘he’s a prince, I’m a commoner’ thing going on too, which makes their relationship even more complex and interesting.

I think another character may be my favourite as well. A ‘perspicacious loris’ beastie is introduced in this book, and Alek has one as a sort of pet with him in this novel. The beastie is called Bolvir and oh my, hahaha. Even though this novel is gorgeously illustrated so I know what a perspicacious loris should look like, I keep imagining Bolvir as Stitch from Lilo & Stitch. Whenever Bolvir ‘talks’, I just imagine him doing it the exact same way Stitch does!

Also, there’s giant walking robots a la Transformers/Gundams. Do I really have to say any more?!

My Rating: 5/5

The Sirens of Baghdad

This post first published on February 10, 2011.

Author: Yasmina Khadra
Published: 2006 (2007: English)
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
320 pages (hardcover)
 
This is a random book I picked up from the library last time I went. I always try to pick one book I know nothing about and never heard of, to read when I go pick up a stack of books from the library. I didn’t really know what to expect but as I read, it became clear that this book is a very well thought out piece of literature (it’s translated from the original French version, just FYI). It offers the Western audience a very valuable new perspective on serious real world issues. From Blogcritics.org: “The Sirens Of Baghdad is a warning and an education that every Western person should have as required reading. If we fail to learn anything from this book or heed its warnings than quite frankly we’re only getting what we deserve.”

The book is split into three parts. Each part has the unnamed protagonist in a different place. The first part has the shy protagonist in his humble little village in Iraq. He used to attend university in Baghdad, but when the Americans began warring in Iraq, he was forced to return home after one year of school. The village becomes increasingly anxious and worried as the American troops and military begin to edge closer and closer to them. As the Americans arrogantly invade — killing a mentally handicapped boy in the village, blowing up a wedding (because they thought there was something suspicious going on) and finally, humiliating the protagonist’s father in front of his family — the protagonist finds himself becoming angrier and angrier. The humiliation of his father is the last straw, and unable to to face his father any longer, the protagonist sets out to Baghdad.

The second part of the novel takes place in Baghdad, where our angry protagonist is hell bent on avenging his family’s honor and righting the wrong the Americans have done to him. Baghdad is constantly under terrorist attacks, from angry groups who want the Americans to leave their country, though there are plenty of people who don’t believe what the terrorists are doing is right and want them to stop. Our protagonist, who is so angry he just wants the whole world t blow up, joins one such rebel group, and this leads to part three, when he travels to the city of Beirut, and prepare for a large terrorist attack in London.

This book is interesting because it is told in first person so I saw through the protagonist’s eyes, yet at the same time, some of his cultural values clashed with my Western ones. I mean, we all know terrorists are bad, yet this book makes that topic a bit of a gray area. Even though he was participating in such a rebel group, I was a little surprised to find myself a little bit understanding of how and why he made the decisions that he did (not that I necessarily agree with them). The protagonist, angry as he is, is not a psychotic person (though there are some stereotypical fanatical terrorists in the novel as well).

Other big themes in this book are honor and and vengeance. The perspective on honor would be the biggest eye opener for Western readers, I imagine. I am not completely unfamiliar with it since I have an Asian cultural background as well, but perhaps to others, some of the trains of thought of these Middle Eastern characters will confuse a bit. I think particularly the concept of family honor will be somewhat novel, since I don’t think in Western countries, people are too concerned with family honor … at least not to the extent of Middle Eastern cultures.

All in all, this is an excellent, excellent novel that I think everyone should give a read. Granted, you do have to be open minded and you can’t be easily offended (Westerners, particularly Americans, are shown in quite the negative light in this book), but if those two things are not an issue for you, give this book a go! When you’re done reading, you’ll feel a bit more … educated? Haha, is that the right word? Well, it certainly makes you consciously realize how people around the world can be so different, yet at the same time, kind of the same.

My Rating: 5/5

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan

This post first published February 6, 2011.

Author: Sophie Kinsella
Published: 2002
Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
Series: Shopaholic #2
323 pages (paperback)
 
So, I’ve read the first book of the Shopaholic series (Confessions of a Shopaholic) and the 5th (Shopaholic and Baby). If you’ve read both my posts on those books, you’ll remember that I loved the first one but wasn’t too happy with the 5th one. Well, I decided to read all the books in between, and just finished book number two — Shopaholic Takes Manhattan (US title) or Shopaholic Abroad (UK title).

In this book, Becky Bloomwood has just started dating successful entrepreneur Luke Brandon (they got together near the end of book one), and is having a very successful career giving financial advice on the television show Morning Coffee (which is ironic, she knows). Last book, she’s paid off all her debts, but it seems Becky’s spending habits are just too hard to break, and she’s already in debt all over again. However, she’s convinced herself that everything will be okay and doesn’t really worry about it — though you’d think she’d learn her lesson from the first time she did that. However, it’s Becky, so it’s kind of expected of her, haha.

Anyway, Luke is looking to expand his PR company to America, specifically New York, and asks Becky if she would come with him. If the deal goes through, the two of them will likely end up living in New York. Becky agrees, and once she is in New York, she feels she has found her “homeland”. She visits all the most famous New York department stores, drools over all the brand name shops, freaks out over a street lined with nothing but shoe stores  … Becky has found the place where she belongs. As she gives her credit cards a mighty work out, she doesn’t realize how her spending is affecting her image back in London, and how that, in turn, is going to affect Luke’s business deal.
I’m so happy that this book is as great as the first one, and not as cliche and over-the-top as the fifth one. I mean, of course there is drama in this book. It’s chick-lit, there’s always crazy drama. But this book’s plot is more in tune with that of the first Shopaholic book, which I really loved, so I’m happy to say I really loved this book too. It’s funny and witty and I think one of my favourite lines is, “If the American economy can be billions of dollars in debt and still survive, you can survive too!” Not an exact quote, but you get the idea. Haha, I don’t know why but that’s my favourite line.

Spoilers alert! — The ending was a little meh for me. Luke tries to win Becky back as she boards the plane to America, planning to leave the UK (forever?) but Becky rejects him. Okay. But then we get this little epilogue-ish chapter at the end, where it’s two months later, and Luke appears at Becky’s new job and asks to get together with her again. This time she accepts. I mean, yeah, I know this is completely possible in real life and all, but it all came off a bit strange to me, to say no first during the climax of the plot, but then have her change her mind in the last chapter. Not a HUGE deal or anything, just my personal feelings towards the ending. — End spoilers!

Overall, a really funny and optimistic story that I think anyone could enjoy (though probably more women than men, heh). I’m excited to read the third book, in which Becky gets married, mainly because I think Luke and Becky make a cute couple, even if Luke seems strangely too perfect at times, but anyway, I hope it retains the same fun and quality that the first two books have!

My Rating: 5/5

Leviathan

This post first published February 5, 2011.

Author: Scott Westerfeld
Published: September 2009
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Series: Leviathan #1
434 pages (hardcover)
 
So sorry I have not properly updated my book blog in such a long time. (Explanation found here). Anyhow, I’ve returned, and my first book (that is not a school textbook, haha) of 2011 is Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. This is a book I’ve been interested in for a long, long time now (since last summer). I first saw it in a bookstore. The title intrigued me at first (though I was thinking more of Leviathan from Final Fantasy video games, haha) and when I flipped through the page and read the summary on the dust jacket — steampunk, World War I, Darwinism, walking machines, a prince in hiding, a girl disguised as a boy — I was really, really interested!

Unfortunately this was constantly being taken out at my local library and I had no interest in being put on a six month waiting list or whatever, so I just waited until by chance I saw the book available. Lo and behold, it finally was!

Leviathan takes place at the beginning of World War I, though it is not at all a factual retelling of any sort. The story takes place in an alternate reality, where the Austria-Hungary Empire and Germany are fascinated with technology and machines, and Britain, France and Russia are fascinated with fabricating new animal species with their DNA and, well, biological technology. I think of them as being fascinated with making chimeras. The story has two main characters who meet around the halfway point of the novel: first is Prince Aleksander, the young heir to the Austria-Hungary Empire, whose parents are killed by the Germans and now he is on the run; the second is a fifteen year old girl named Deryn Sharp, a common Brit disguised as a boy in order to join the army. They meet when the two are stranded in Switzerland for different reasons and must work together despite being enemies in the war, in order to escape their situation.

I was extremely fascinated with this book. I’m no stranger to steampunk (hello, Final Fantasy VI) but I’ve never encountered the idea of using fabricated animals as part-machine war equipment. Was that hard to understand? Haha, well,  besides your traditional chimera creatures like a part-tiger, part-wolf creatures, they also use animal DNA (or life strands, as they are called) to make things like the Leviathan. The Leviathan is the name of an airship. It is an entire eco-system of an airship. The main life strands used are those of a whale, followed by glow-worms in its membrane to keep it warm, fabricated birds and bees to gather food for the whale-creature which uses hydrogen to fly in the air … I know, it sounds all very confusing, but I promise the book does a way better job of explaining the concept than me. It also has pictures to help! (Lots of pretty pictures)!

So basically, Deryn and her British crew fly around in a giant floating whale as an airship! Haha, it sounds a bit silly, but it’s actually a really interesting idea.

This book was really fun to read from start to finish for me. Though it is a ‘young adult’ novel, I feel it’s more of a children’s book, personally. That’s not to say people of all ages can’t enjoy it though!
While I can’t really say I became attached to any of the characters (I did like them though, I just didn’t really like them enough to become attached), I did become attached to the world. It’s just so fascinating! Although the dust jacket lies a bit when it says Deryn and Alek go on an around-the-world adventure. No, they really didn’t … they were stuck in one country for the most part, haha. But I’m guessing they will do more traveling in the sequel(s)? I saw the sequel Behemoth at the library too, but I was being all cautious and didn’t want to take that out too in case I didn’t like Leviathan. In hindsight, I really wish I did because the book ends off on a bit of a cliff hanger, and I really want to find out what happens next!

My Rating: 4.5/5

A Storm of Swords

This post first published November 27, 2010.

Author: George R. R. Martin
Published: 2000
PUblisher: Spectra
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire #3
1216 pages (mass market paperback)
 
This is now officially the longest novel I’ve ever read. After finishing A Clash of Kings, I dove into book three right away. I haven’t been disappointed by the series yet, and A Storm of Swords has upheld that tradition for me :)

In this third installment of the Song of Ice and Fire series, Westeros is in the midst of a war between five kings all vying for the Iron Throne: Robb Stark of the North; Joffrey Baratheon, the late King Robert’s ‘son'; Stannis Baratheon, King Robert’s brother; Renly Baratheon, King Robert’s second brother and Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Isles. In the North, Robb is winning battles, but has lost Winterfell, his castle, and is now having to deal with that, as well as the fact that House Frey is furious that he did not marry one of the Frey daughters, which he promised in exchange for their support.  In the meantime, Catelyn Stark (Robb’s mother) has released Jaime the Kingslayer — Robb’s most important captive — from his cell in hopes that he can be exchanged for her two daughters’ lives, who she believes are being held captive by Queen Cersei, Jaime’s sister and lover.

Stannis, in the meantime, has the aid of a red priestess from Asshai, Melisandre, who tries to convince him to sacrifice his brother Robert’s bastard child Edric in order for her to help him win the war. Davos, Stannis’ most trusted man, attempts to murder Melisandre.

In King’s Landing, Joffrey is still an arrogant, self centered boy-king. Sansa Stark, held hostage there, is relieved she does not have to marry Joffrey after all, but her happiness is short lived when it is revealed she has to marry someone who she thinks is worse. She eventually escapes from King’s Landing with the help of the most unlikely ally and whisked away to the Eyrie to her psychotic aunt Lysa. Sansa is not quite sure if her situation has improved or worsened.

On the wall, the wildlings are mounting a large scale attack against the Night Watch. The Night Watch has written to all five kings pleading for help, but everyone is too busy fighting their own wars to realize that the Wall is in great danger. Jon is commanded to join the wildlings as an informer, which he has great difficulty doing so while trying not to break any of his vows as a man of the Night Watch.

Finally, in the East, Daenerys Targaryen is building an army, little by little, and conquering city after city as she bides her time and allows her precious dragons to grow. She will not be satisfied until she is sitting on Westeros’ Iron Throne.

Another plot-filled story here, and as usual, I have a hard time condensing it all into a summary. I am happy that this book has maintained the quality of the first two. It was another great read that had me turning the pages, unable to stop. I’m hooked onto this series! Do I think the story is getting better or worse? To be honest, I think it has remained the same, but that’s good too, because at least it’s not getting worse :P (Which is something I worry about with long epic series like these).

Last book (A Clash of Kings) I said I didn’t like Davos’ chapters because I thought they were boring. This book, I liked them a lot more. I even started liking Davos, when previously I just thought of him as a “meh” character. I think what made his chapters more interesting to me is his interactions with Melisandre. Melisandre is a very mysterious character. I am not quite sure if she is genuine, if she is crazy, or if she even has magical powers. Davos wonders the same thing as the reader, so that’s how we got on the same page.

While I was glad to see Davos’ chapters become more engaging, I felt Arya and Bran’s chapters were a step back. Arya and Bran’s chapters were … well, kind of boring, as well as the teeniest bit frustrating because they would JUST miss meeting another character. For example, Bran JUST misses meeting Jon, and Arya JUST misses meeting her mother and Robb. It’s such a tease. I’m glad Arya still is not captured (well, not by anyone who would really be a threat to her) and is becoming even more independent than ever. I really hope she reunites with her direwolf soon (if she ever does). I also feel it’s sort of torturous teasing to have her enter her direwolf’s mind through dreaming, but she never puts two and two together. Bran’s chapters, I felt, just consisted of him wandering and chatting and hiding, and overall, not that exciting. Last nit-picky thing: I am kind of annoyed that Daenerys STILL hasn’t entered the heart of the action in Westeros. It’s been three books. All her chapters are essentially chapters of an independent novel, and probably could be taken out of this book, and it’d still be perfectly good. (Yes I realize Daenerys’ chapters actually WERE made into an independent novel. My point still stands). She has to become more involved with the other characters soon … right?!

However, the majority of the novel was amazing. There were so many twists and turns, so many things I didn’t see coming. I think I liked Sansa’s chapters the most, just because so many unexpected things happened to the poor girl. Actually, I don’t even really like Sansa, but I still hope she becomes reunited with her family because I am a big fan of House Stark (they’re the ones I am rooting to win this entire war … though if Daenerys wins, I will still be pretty happy).

I am not quite ready to dive straight into book four. Well, for one, I am really busy at this time of year with final exams and papers. Secondly, the fourth book is the last book for a while, since the author apparently writes at ultra slow snail speed, so I want to put off the book as long as possible … so that I will still have something to look forward to in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire. Though I’ll probably crack eventually and just HAVE to find out what happens next …

My Rating: 5/5