Wednesday, June 6, 2012

City of Bones


Oh my goodness this book is strange.
The basic idea is that it's about these people (Shadowhunters) who hunt demons. And there's also werewolves and vampires - but they are more like Dracula than Edward Cullen.

I'll start with what I like. The characters are interesting and the backstories are well thought out. The whole Shadowhunter world is very detailed and specific. The plot is overall grabbing, so you'd like to know what happens next whether you're actually enjoying the book or not. It's very popular (or so I've heard). It's a definite read if you are a fantasy fan.

Now for what bugs me. Throughout the entire book, the only characters who I could really picture in my head were Clary's mom, Magnus Bane, Isabelle and Alec. The rest just seemed difficult to imagine. Also there were just some plot elements that were just weird - like that whole thing with Jace (that I can't say anything about without completely spoiling it). It's so cliche it's not even cliche anymore. Also, I feel so bad for poor Simon! The author just loves to torture him!

So I can't decide whether to be disgusted or in love with this book. Whichever one - it's got me intriuged. It's part of a series - I'm on the third.

Um yeah. I think it's worth a try for people who are okay with the whole "fantasy in the real world" genre.*

Peace, Love, and SIMON WINS AT LIFE.


* Which reminds me, I've been meaning to write a little thing about my opinions on genre... Hm. Maybe you'll see that soon.


(And also, don't let the fact that the three quotes on the book jacket are either the Stephanie Meyer quote or have the word 'sexy' in them scare you.)

Friday, May 11, 2012

Matched







SORRY SORRY SORRY. I took a month off to deal with school and other such business.
Yeah. But I'm back for another review!

-----------


Quick Summary -
"Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black."
Source: www.goodreads.com




I had heard good things about this book. It won some sort of award, and I knew the sequel had sold very well, so I had high hopes when I checked this out of the library.


The plot is pretty interesting, but Cassia (the main character).

Oh, Cassia.

I found her quite bothersome. She had the thought process of a toddler.

Now, I understand that since this book is Dystopian, then she is allowed to be sort of ignorant.
That's not what bothers me.

What bothers me is that Cassia is matched with her freaking BEST FRIEND, but when a "computer glitch" gives her a different face for a second - she decides to suddenly lose half of her ignorance and decide to listen to everything the government tells her EXCEPT the part about the computer glitch. I understand the natural curiosity, but really?



Cassia is sort of slow and difficult to connect with. It bothered me a lot.


Now, don't get me wrong. I know lots of people really enjoy this book. I'm just not one of them.


But if you want the same sort of plot idea, just better written, I'd go check out Delirium by Lauren Oliver.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

The Fault in Our Stars


The Fault in Our Stars by John Green has been on the New York bestseller lists pretty much since it came out.

And wow, does it deserve it.

I started and finished it in one day, barely stopping to do anything.
Well, except for school.
But you know what I mean.

It's wonderfully written, every sentence just exploding with a voice that makes you laugh and cry and yell alongside Hazel (the main character).

From John Green's website -

"The Fault in Our Stars is the story of Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters, two Indianapolis teenagers who meet at a Cancer Kid Support Group."
Except it's so much more than that.

John Green can take a normal action or sentence and breathe life and power into it. The characters are as far from 'fairy tale' as you can get, with real life problems and emotions and personalities.

And I admit, I cried at the end. 

In conclusion, this book is revolutionary. It's stunning. I think it'll become a classic.

So listen up, all of you. Go read it. I don't even mind if you don't like it, but go read it.

Unless you're ten or eleven years old, because it's sort of mature-ish. Then you might want to wait a year. And I know, I remember being eleven and reading that a book is 'mature' and being like, "HAH! You can't tell me what to do!" and then going and reading it anyways. But I do suggest not reading it yet. ***

Peace, Love, and The Power of Words.

*** Actually, if you're ten or eleven, you should click here and read my review of Wonderstruck. It's by the guy who wrote The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which they made a movie of called "Hugo" which dominated the Oscars earlier this month.

And on another note, the Hunger Games movie just came out!
AAH!!!! SO EXCITING!!!
Unfortunately, I haven't seen it yet, even though pretty much all of my friends got to go to the midnight premiere and are all talking about it. When I see it, I'll write a review :)




"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once."
- John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Ender's Game



Ender's Game. I read it last year, and I haven't reviewed it yet. Except now I will.

It is the Sci-Fi book.

It's well written and very interesting and amazing and you kind of have to read it.
So, I'm not saying you should read it. I'm saying you have to read it.

It's about Ender, who is at a battle school on a spaceship. Except there's a lot more to it than that. There's plot twists and interesting characters and setting and mind games.

Everyone go read it.

Peace, Love, and Sci-Fi

P.S. Also, someone is making a movie of it! With Asa Butterfield as Ender!

P.P.S. If you've read this already, there's also Ender's Shadow, which is also a must read :)


And we're really close to 5,000 views! Thanks so much you guys!


Thursday, February 9, 2012

Harry Potter

Harry Potter.
It just makes me want to quit reading.
And writing.
And books in general.

Because I just sort of know that I will never find a book that makes me as happy as Harry Potter does. It's a true fact. And I will never write a book as good as Harry Potter. And I will definitely never find a book that's as good. But oh well.

I love the Harry Potter series.

I love the characters. I love Luna and Neville and Hermione and Ron. But not really Harry because he can be whiny. But that's part of his charm.

J.K. Rowling has it all down. She created a universe that is so exciting and characters so interesting and magical that virtually everyone will love it. I really wish I was a Hogwarts student.

I am Hufflepuff. And Hufflepuffs are good finders!

Oh my. Don't even get me started on A Very Potter Musical. It makes me love Voldemort. And Harry is played by Darren Criss, who is totally supermegafoxyawesomehot. And it's a MUSICAL!

Have any of you readers heard of Pottermore? It's a website, and it's still in beta. I did not get into the beta group. It was supposed to be available to everyone in October. It's February. I'm getting impatient!


Why am I randomly writing about Harry Potter. Well, it's partly because I just read the nominations for the Oscars, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Pt. 2 didn't win anything. Also, in English class we're writing an essay on a person whom we admire and I'm writing mine on Luna Lovegood.

Is this a book review? I don't know. More like a rant. Well, you decide.

Peace, Love, and OMG 4,000 VEIWS!!!


Sunday, February 5, 2012

The Son of Neptune



Here it is! The promised Son of Neptune review that I forgot to post!
Thanks Jem for reminding me :)

**Note: This is clearly heavily edited and is probably very robotic seeming because of this, sorry. It was written for English class, so yeah. Sorry about that, but hopefully it's not really horrible. This is sort of maybe the way that real reviewer people write. I think.**


What if the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds of gods, monsters, and heroes was real and affected our everyday life? And what if you happened to be a child of one of the gods?
            If you were, then you would fit right in with the characters in this book.
            Yes, you read right. The main characters of Rick Riordan’s newest novel, The Son of Neptune are all demigods.
            The Son of Neptune is the second installment in the Heroes of Olympus Series (sequel series to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series). The book is about a group of demigods (half-gods, for those of you not in the know.) named Percy, Hazel, and Frank. Their mission is to find the god Thanatos, who watches the doors of death. The revenge-seeking earth goddess Gaea has captured him, and without him no one can die. It is set in many real-life cities around the U.S., including San Francisco, Seattle, and multiple towns in Alaska and Canada. The book has variety of hilarious and interesting characters, witty dialogue, real Greek and Roman myths, and grabbing twists in plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next,
            Let’s start with the characters. From Percy’s hilarious sarcasm, to Frank’s adorable clumsiness, to Hazel’s intriguing back-story, the characters are, to sum it up, awesome. You can tell that Rick Riordan really thinks out his characters to the smallest detail. For example, he wrote a character named Dakota, who’s tall, burly, and addicted to red Kool-Aid. Who else would think of that?
            Rick Riordan has clearly done his research on Greek and Roman myths. There are many connections to Greek and Roman myths throughout the book and series. With the facts Rick Riordan gives, it’s believable that the whole story could be true.  Some of the connections are obvious or explained, like Percy’s ability with horses when Poseidon (his dad) created them, or thunder booming whenever they say something to offend Zeus, though others can be hidden and less explained
            And though the book is pretty amazing, I have to admit that the overall conflict with Gaea is a bit of a repeat of the conflict with Kronos in the first series. In both cases, the villain is gathering minor gods and forgotten monsters to join their armies to defeat the gods. And both are pretty much aiming for revenge and world domination.
I’m think I can honestly say that everyone will love The Son of Neptune. It’s got action, adventure, romance, historical myths, and it’s well written. It’s the complete package.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Death Cure



This was not exactly a fabulous book. The ending may have been fabulous, but the rest of the book was a bit of a letdown.

First off, in pretty much the first chapter, the whole reason behind the trials is revealed. And James Dashner thinks he can still finish up the book when the main question is answered in the first twenty pages? Honestly.

The rest of the book was pretty much just Thomas knowing what was going on, then being confused, then knowing, etc. It really confused me.

And then there was this whole other thing with kidnapping that never made sense to me. Why did the author stick that in there?

It had also been a while since I had read the previous book so I pretty much forgot everything which is really bad because they made a lot of references to it.

Well, I really apologize for not posting for like ever but I took a break from reading actual books, I just sort of reread the Hunger Games again and then read comic books for the rest of December.

But now I'm back!

Posts to come soon (hopefully):

   -Ender's Game
   -Miss Pengrine's Home for Peculiar Children
    and more!

Peace, Love, and You Should Read it if You Read the First One


Sunday, January 1, 2012