Book Store Blues

First off I just want to say that I personally believe that this book was far more enjoyable than 'A Court of Thorns and Roses', the first book in this series.

I understand that the first one had to be written in order to introduce the series as well as the characters and allow the readers to get immersed in and understand the world. However, I personally found that this one had more character depth and more relatable themes than that of the first. We learn more about who the characters are and what their past's hold and get a more in-depth look in general as to the mental states of the characters than we did with the first one.

Without giving away too much I would like to state that I even found the main characters of this book to be more interesting, more funny, and overall better characters to get to know than some of the ones that appeared in the first book. I'm not at all trying to say that the first book was terrible and should not be read or anything like that, but, if you are one of the people (like me) who has a habit of judging a series after reading the first book in a series and found that you yourself did not like it, then I suggest you at least give this one a go.

This book had an un-put-downable feeling that I personally believe that the first one lacked to an extent, and it was easier to lose track of time while immersed in the story than it previously had been.

I personally recommend this series to people that are a fan of twists that can only occur from loose fairy tale retellings, as well as those that are fans of fantasy novels with relatively large world's to explore and love.

"No horse jokes," he said.

"My Lord, I apologise for the horse joke. If you put down the book-unharmed!-I will give you a carrot."

He brandished the book at her. "Was that a horse joke?"

"Neigh."

 

This book is by far one of the funniest (if not THE funniest) book I have read this year. Usually, I'm not the sort of person that reads books that are known to have quite large  elements of comedy in them, nor do I usually read books that are written in the third person narrative, all I know is that I am so glad I gave this book a shot.

'My Lady Jane' follows three different perspectives, King Edward the VI, Lady Jane Grey, and Gifford whose stories are intertwined from the get-go. If I'm being totally honest I didn't really care that much for Edwards perspective for the most part as I found Gifford and Jane's perspectives to be funnier and more light-hearted in the face of danger, while Edward tended to be whinier and caught up in his own mind. I do, however, understand that he is meant to come across that way as he is, well, the king. 

I was also unsure how this book would go and fit together, being written by three different authors but I personally believe that it went very well. Contrary to my own belief I enjoyed the little author's notes type things in the middle of a paragraph, as it meant they were able to have quirky input as to historical inaccuracies, or just where the story got a little bit off track.

All in all, I would thoroughly recommend this book to those that are lovers of historical fiction (and maybe even people that are just a fan of history with a few twists), and people that need a light-hearted yet serious read to occupy their time.

I really want to read this book, but I can't. This is the second time I have tried so hard to pick the book up but instead, have left it 50 or so pages in and not returned to it. I love the premise of the book, a story told from the point of view of a British spy captured by German forces in WWII, who recounts her events through a series of letters among other things. 

To be completely honest with you I'm not entirely sure what my issue is with this book. I want so badly to read it and continue on with the duology(?), but each time I go to read it I end up in a reading slump and never venture past the 100-page mark. The parts that I did read however I thoroughly enjoyed.

I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in historical fiction with a little bit of feminism, on the path to equal rights in a time where women were seen as incapable of doing things such as flying planes in order to defend their country. I hope to one day pick this book up again and be able to finish it and receive the full enjoyment I know I could get from this book.

This book was not what I expected. From all of the hype I had heard about it over the past two-ish years, I expected a retelling of 'Beauty and the Beast' with more mystical/modern concepts. To be honest I don't believe that assumption wasn't entirely wrong but it wasn't exactly correct either. 

The story followed our protagonist of Feyre, a mortal human who makes a big mistake and now has to go to the land filled with Faeries, people her kind had grown so much to hate over the years in order to fulfill her debt. Towards the beginning, the novel seems very repetitive with Feyre's thoughts and motivations as to constantly being on edge and wanting to leave, which she keeps up for the majority of the novel. Although those thoughts are warranted it does become the overall focus of the book for a time with constant thoughts to what traps she could set and different things she could do to protect herself should she be in danger.

I personally found the book to be very slow towards the beginning with few things happening in the middle, and the bulk of the excitement occurring in the last 100-150 pages of the book. This does not at all mean that I did not like that book at all, even though I found it difficult to get into, to begin with. 

The portion of the storyline that held similarities to 'Beauty and the Beast' became fairly obvious within the first quarter of the novel, but only held vague similarities continuing on. However, with all of my criticism, the novel as a whole was very well written and I look forwards to picking up the 'Throne of Glass' series.

One thing I will say about this book series is that I am slowly growing to find the protagonist more annoying that I thought I would when I started on Red Queen. She keeps going back and forwards about what she wants with little to no regard for other characters, who she is willing to treat like dirt in exchange for doing what she hopes is right.

In exchange for her foolish actions, she lets others be hurt in their place and tells herself that the present moment is not a good time to feel guilt or remorse for their fates, even though sometimes you could say it's almost entirely her fault. Paired with this Mare keeps asking for others to save her when she wouldn't think twice about the possible repercussions of her actions on the ones she cares about.

Although the book itself is a good read that has a lot of things happening, I personally feel as though the back and forth of it all drags the book on for longer than it needs to be. I am glad, however, that the author kept up with leaving a little bit of predictability in the book, but left us guessing as to how certain events would turn out. In all of this ranting, it may not seem like it but I am looking forward to reading the next book when it is released as Victoria Aveyard writes awesome (for the most part) cliffhangers!

Red Queen is a book about the divide between two groups of people based on an uncontrollable physical attribute. There are the reds, the poor who live in slums, know what real work feels like (those that can get work) and in every way viewed as inferior. Then there are the silvers, the rich and the powerful, the nobles and a group of people who view themselves as superior in every way.

This book has a great plot in the sense that yes, certain events within the book were easily predicted to happen, but in saying that the how they happened was sometimes unexpected. It was a book that while it almost feels the same as every other YA dystopian book such as that of the hunger games and divergent in the sense of divided groups of people and those that are in charge don't look out for those below them, yet the story itself, being told from the inside rather than the angsty teen looking at the ones in charge with a fiery hatred.

The first word that comes to mind when describing the main character of this book, a seventeen-year-old red called Mare Barrow, is naive. She was easily manipulated and never seemed to learn her lesson on whom to trust. Although she was so angry at the silvers she was also so quick to trust them and then surprised each time she was betrayed by someone she was so quick to trust. She constantly states that she needs to be vigilant and be careful, watch her own back as well as the backs of her family and friends that she left behind, yet she is surprised each time she gets burned either by silver or by a red. (This is the sole reason for the half a star being knocked off for me.)

Although it may not seem that way based on how i describe my issues with the main character, I thoroughly enjoyed this book as it was refreshing to read a book where although I was aware that certain events were bound to happen, I found myself surprised at how they happened, all the while enjoying the writing style that Victoria Aveyard presents to us.

"It dares us to question everything we know about ourselves...about everything"

'Sleeping Giants' gave off the feeling of 'The Iron Giant' meets 'Pacific Rim' with a little bit of political and historical context into what may actually happen, were the world to discover that there were, in fact, pieces of a giant robot buried in various places around the world. The book follows five(ish) main characters each that have different parts to play in an increasingly elaborate plan that spans over different continents creating different political issues spawning from previously established tensions.

What I personally found interesting about one of the various topics addressed in the book, is how ready people in positions of power seem to be to sacrifice other people for what they deem to be the greater good. They deny the fact that they are willing to place people in dangerous situations, especially situations that would call for the harm of mass amount of people, yet when they are faced with the opportunities to collect pieces of their global puzzle for national gain, then they are willing to authorise or look the other way if they believe that the action was necessary in order to make things happen. The book itself is presented in a way that you do not get overly attached to the main characters, and instead follow the book for the ideas and storyline presented while accepting the characters that are presented to us as a part of a larger story.

The format of the story, based off of my personal reading history can only be compared to the structure of 'Illuminae' (by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff), as the majority of what we read is told by a nameless CIA agent with the occasional journal entry from on of the various main characters, or news article. By presenting the story in such a way we are able to witness many parts of the world being explored at any one time. I do, however, wish that the amount of time that had passed within entries had been addressed in the headers at the beginning of each chapter as well as part of the way through so that we, as readers, could develop a better understanding of the full timeline by the end of the book, rather than having to pay extra attention in the middle of a chapter to figure out how much time has passed since we last heard from certain characters.

All in all, I look forward to the sequels.