Amanda
Category Weight % Rating 0-10PLOT 2 originality 0.3 8pacing 0.1 6structure 0.1 3conflict 0.5 8CHARACTER 1 depth 0.25 1development 0.25 0diversity 0.3 0believability 0.2 5SETTING 2 world-buliding 0.4 9atmosphere 0.3 5originality 0.2 9impact 0.1 5CRAFT 1 prose 0.35 8dialogue 0.25 7show vs tell 0.4 6STYLE 1 voice 0.3 5tone 0.3 5impact 0.4 5RESONANCE 1 impact 0.5 2connection 0.5 2THEME 2 central message 0.4 6subtlety 0.2 3universality 0.4 9
I would recommend this to anyone who loves Buffy, though it is probably helpful to watch the last season before listening. It has been several years since I watched the final season, and I think that made some of the more minor plot points between the two universes confusing.
I love Benson's writing. It is truly a shame that this is my introduction to her as an author. Not because Slayers is bad (I mean, 5 stars... so) but because I wish I knew her as an author away from Tara first. Tara is one of my favorite characters in all of fiction, so it is difficult for me to separate the actress (and author) from the character.
CAWPILE breakdown with FANTASY multipliers below:
Character 8 (x1.2 =9.6)
Atmosphere 8 (x1.3 = 10.4)
Writing 9
Plot 7 (x1.2 = 8.4)
Intrigue 10
Logic 6 (x1.2 = 7.2)
Entertainment 10
Total = 64.6 / 7 = 9.23 - 5 stars
3.5 stars. I related more to this MC than in The North Wind, and I liked the setting more. But I found it more difficult to get into. Maybe because I did see so much of myself in Brielle, but I kind of found her annoying at times.
And no spoilers, but I HATE the trope that is used at the climax. I almost rage quit the book, but there are only about 50 pages left at that point, so...
Where's the button for “I'm in this book and I don't like it”?
This book affected me more than a chick-lit book really should. But, I really saw myself in the main character. The relationship between Harriet and Wyn reminds me of my relationship with Jason, or at least the way it could end. And how we feel about each other. He is what I think of. He is what I want. And that is kind of scary. I don't want to build my life around a person, but here I am.
I also really felt the idea of growing away from friends, whether on purpose or not. I really felt the idea of living my life the way others want me to. I just really felt this book.
4 stars because it was a little predictable. But, not bad at all. I probably would have thrown the book at the wall if it didn't end the way it did. But for so long it seemed as though this book was going to break the norm of the genre, but alas. It ended well, but a little cliche.
Cried. Hard-core cried.
I remember having a hard time making it through these books when I was younger. I didn't like the stories as much as I loved Tamora Pierce's other novels. I'm sure it had something to do with the lack of romance.
But I really did enjoy this book. I read it because I picked up The Will of The Empress on a whim, but was rather confused when I started reading. I knew the characters, of course, but not well enough to understand the opening the way I should. So, I decided to read the series leading up to the new book.
I was not disappointed. How could I be? Sandry works magic with yarn. Awesome. I do remember Tris being my favorite character. Probably because she has unruly red hair and is fat. Like I was.
This is probably one of Pierce's most diverse books. But I'm not sure that's a good thing. It seems her characters a full of tokenism. Daja is the black friend. Tris, as I mentioned before, is the angry fat girl. Briar is a token male (which is an interesting token, but a token for Pierce none the less). Her characters all play into stereotypes. They also break those stereotypes in many ways, but I feel she could have done better.
Overall, this is a good book, if not a little short. If her publishers would have allowed it, she could probably put the whole series into this book, maybe two, and I would not have gotten bored.
Though this is my first official time reading any Emelan stories, I have read Tris's Book before. I always felt a connection with Tris, a fat, quiet girl with unruly hair. Though Sandry's power with fiber is something I would love to have (and some people may claim that I do have a power with fiber - go knitters!!), I have always wanted to be able to control the weather. So Tris has a special place in my heart.
I (finally) finished Mastiff by Tamora Pierce last night. I say finally because I feel like I have been reading this book for a really long time, but that is mostly due to these last weeks being the start of school. It really only took me about 3 weeks to read this almost-600-page book.
Before I can really get into this review, I have to admit something. I love Tamora Pierce. I have since I discovered her Lioness Quartet in 6th grade. To this day, one of the highlights of my life was interviewing her after the first Beka Cooper book came out. So, I knew I was going to love this book before my Nook automatically downloaded it in late October (did I mention my first purchase on my Nook was the aforementioned Lioness Quartet and the preorder of this book?).
That said, this books did not earn my love by simply existing. It took a bit to warm up to again, possibly because it had been a while since reading a Beka Cooper book, so to suddenly jump in with the third book was a bit of a shock. Especially because the book starts with Beka burying her fiancé. I reeled because I didn't remember Beka even having a fiancé, let alone that he died. For the first ten pages or so, I was freaking out, thinking I really needed to reread the previous books, which is quite a daunting feat a week before classes start.
Thankfully, the previous two books, Terrier and Bloodhound are also on my Nook, so a quick glance of the ending of Bloodhound let me know that I had not missed anything, that almost 2 years separates the two stories, and the Holburn was no where in the previous book. Which fits, because he is not technically in the third book, either.
Without giving too much away, Mastiff follows Beka, Tunstall, Lady Sabine, Achoo, Pounce and Farmer, a mage from the Blue Harbor Kennel as they search for the kidnapped prince of Tortall. This Prince Gareth is the ancestor of Prince-cum-King Jonathan from the earlier (later?) Tortall series, as Beka is George Cooper's ancestor. The exact number of generations between the characters in these books and the characters from the other Tortallan books is unknown, which is something else that confused me.
This confusion is totally my fault. Somewhere I got the idea the Beka was George's grandmother, which made some of the names in this book, specifically that of the Prince, confusing. I reread Alanna over the summer, so I was more familiar with those books, including the character of Duke Gareth of Naxen, one of the knights that taught Alanna to fight when she was Alan, and then fought by her side when Duke Roger decided to go apeshit. So, for a good part of the beginning of the book, I thought that the prince in question would grow up to become the duke in question, who is also Jonathan's uncle. So, yeah, I was a little off.
My confusion on these two parts is probably what made the book seem a bit slow to start.
After getting over the headache, I was able to start fully investing myself into the reading. Which was just as good as I have come to expect from Pierce. Full of action, feature strong characters and good motives. I was a little dismayed over the lack of Rosto in the book, because I was convinced that he and Beka would get together, thus forming the bond between law and rogue that shines in George. That didn't happen, but don't worry, there is still that touch of romance that leaves the 13-year-old in me smiling from ear to ear.
The central focus of Mastiff is the slave trade in Tortall, but really the story could have happened anywhere. It is a terrible glimpse into what the world of slavery is. How people are bought, sold, killed and disposed of like they are play things. How people can treat others that are deemed below them. It is a disgusting world full of untrustworthy and genuinely ugly people. Pierce showcases this world as the seedy, yet perfectly legal underbelly of Tortall. Parents selling their children for extra cash, children kidnapped by slavers when the season is right, and the rich getting richer on the backs of those with nothing but their names and the rags covering their bodies.
All of this is set in a conspiracy plot that involves some of the highest nobles in the land.
The book begins with a show of death at the hands of the conspirators. Guards, slaves, workers, friends are all dead when Beka is summoned to the Summer Palace to begin her Hunt. I'm going to stop telling the story now, except to say that Mastiff ends similarly, with the attack of the kidnappers. Only at the end, the attacks are for the King and not against him, and they are done in the open, with mercy and warning.
Overall, I am very satisfied with this book. It has kept me up the last two nights, unable to put it down. When I did finally convince myself to turn off the light, I was still awake thinking about it. It completely captured me, as I knew it would. When I finished it last night, I immediately began wondering when Pierce is going to release another series. Since this is the last of the Beka Cooper stories, I cannot wait to see which character in her wonderful kingdom will be next.
So, yeah, I'm a fangirl. But, seriously, go read this book, and all of Pierce's other books while your at it. It's totally worth it, and there are almost 30 of them, so it's something that will keep you happy and reading for a while.
Don't go into this book expecting anything exciting. It does exactly what it says it's going to do. It's a dystopian, teenage love triangle. It's The Hunger Games without the violence. It's Twilight without the supernatural, the stalking, the Mary Sue... and everything else that's horrible about Twilight.
The writing is okay. If it were from one of my students, I'd probably give it a C+ or a B-. It's not bad, but it could be better. She has a major case of the telling, especially in the beginning. She expects that her readers know what's happening during the Match ceremony, she doesn't give many details about what's happening, and instead glosses over it.
She does get better as the story progresses, but it's never quite enough to make up for the lackluster beginning.
Henrietta Lacks died in 1954. Cancer took her body and her life when she had five young children. Doctors took her cells when she was dying. They didn't tell her or her family for twenty years. Those cells are still alive, still multiplying, still being shipped around the world. If part of her is still alive, even when two of her children, her husband, her hometown and a good number of her family are dead, is Henrietta still alive?
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is about science and medicine. It's about race, sex and inequity. But mostly it's about a daughter's search for knowledge.
I won't go into the science behind Henrietta's story, partly because it's all explained in the book, partly because it's kind of weird, but mostly because I only kind of understand it. There is so many different ways to look at the case of HeLa, Henrietta and the Lacks family, that I will focus my thoughts on the ones that I can actually talk about without needing a textbook.
There are so many questions about Johns Hopkins and Henrietta. If she had had more money, if she had white skin, if she had a penis, would she have survived her cancer? Would Johns Hopkins taken her cells and told no one? Would they have asked first? Would the family have been compensated?
Of course, the answers to those questions are unknowable. I do think she probably would have died no matter her circumstance. Her cancer was so invasive, so malignant, that it was the first living cells to be cultured. That says something about what she was living with. She might have lived longer, but I don't think she could have survived, at least not in the 50s.
I could probably write a paper about the social justice implications in Henrietta's life, death, and continued life. But why should I, when Rebecca Skloot wrote a whole book about it?
Skloot's book is amazing. The way she describes the Lacks' lives is beautiful. It's a factual account that reads like a novelization. It's the novel-readers science book. She almost makes you forget that all of these people are real. Almost.
Skloot opens the book with the intention of writing about the science of HeLa, but instead focuses on her family. You can feel how Deborah affected Skloot. My only complaint is that I wish there was more information about Elsie, but I'm not sure that would have been possible, considering the circumstances.
The book highlights the stark contrast between medicine in the 50s and today. Could this happen today? The answer is, of course, yes. And it probably has, though not to the extent described in the book. Skloot makes sure to assure her readers that although confidentiality and ethics have improved by leaps and bounds, what Hopkins did to Henrietta is still completely legal.
I tried, I really did. I made it to parents' weekend, hoping that maybe seeing her parents in her beloved Ault would snap her out of her selfish and proud attitude.
It didn't work when a teacher told her that people actually want to be friends with her, but she refuses to talk to them. Giving haircuts didn't make her personable. Even when she actually makes friends, she treats them line shit.
I could not handle this character anymore. I give up.
Creepy and Weird
Sometimes the story is hard to follow and the romance is...almost incestuous. But it's still fun to travel with Jacob and learn that the fairy stories he believed as a child were real. There were a few times I had to turn over in bed so my back could be next to a pillow and I could see the door (things I do when I'm creeped out).
The pictures are amazing. I was always looking forward to the next one. They add a good number of the creep factor and make up for characterizations the plot does not handle. There are so many characters that it is hard to keep track of who is whom, but the pictures make that a little easier.
I feel bad for not really having anything else to say about this book. It's good, but not amazing. It's creepy but not scary. It is very, very weird, though. So, there's that. Looking forward to the next one, but not falling out of my chair to buy it.
This is a very good, if not all that new, story.
It is also my first Harlequin Romance. And my first win from the Goodreads giveaways (that means it was free. Is that enough, FTC?).
I have to say that I did enjoy this book. It's nothing deep or earth-shattering. It's not even that dirty — or dirty at all. But the story was entertaining and the characters mostly believable. If you just read for the plot, you won't go wrong.
However, the writing is lackluster at best. The book is riddled with dangling participles and lousy with unnecessary and frankly stupid interjections. Oh, beiber. Holy Elvis Presley. Golly!
It probably wouldn't have been so bad if the interjections actually made sense. Considering this is a book for adults, some mild cursing is okay, even expected in some situations. But of all the random outbursts (of which there was at least on per page) only one was an actual interjection, not one Higgins made up. I don't know if she was trying to make her characters appear quirky, but it really just made them annoying.
And really, when writing a description, make sure it is next to the noun/verb it is describing. It is very confusing to read something, and then the sentence goes someplace else, only to end with a description of the first thing. Stop it. It's an easy mistake (and something the editors should have caught) but it's bad writing.
The whole story follows the basic plot structure of rom-coms everywhere. The ending is expected, but it is very nice. My heart fluttered and broke with the characters.
There are a few plot points that are unnecessary: the letter, the sloppy seconds, the hope for the cousin and possibly the custody battle and definitely the “OCD.” Not only was the OCD plot point unnecessary, but it was hurtful. If Liam was truly suffering, he would need serious help. Simply getting a good girlfriend would not cure him. There are also many plot points that could have been given more sway: the two proms, the motorcycle accident, the marriage falling apart. Expanding on those points would have made the characters more 3 dimensional and the story more engaging.
Overall this book is nothing new, but it is still a fun beach read.
Up next: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
I didn't care about the outcome of this book until the last 20 pages.
I felt obligated to finish this book because I love Katniss as a character. I wanted to know what happened between her and Peeta. I wanted to know how Gale took the change. But other than that, this book was boring and hard to get through.
Unlike the first two books of the series, there is very little action. Katniss herself spends much of the book in an apathetic stupor and it's hard not to join her. The war between the Districts and the Capital could have been a very interesting backdrop to the main story of how Katniss recovers from the Quarter Quell, but it flounders and flops. Instead of energizing the readers, Katniss seems too tired and bored to do much of anything.
When she is acting as the Mockingjay, think Joan of Arc without the nasty burning at the stake, she finally regains her strength of will and mind. She becomes the character I fell in love with in the Arena. But that doesn't happen until well into the book, and even then the scenes are short-lived and staged.
But, I continued reading because if there is one thing Collins can do well (and there are many) it's the cliffhanger. Just as I was about to give up on the book completely, she would throw some twist in the last sentence. Granted, the twists were not really that surprising, but they were enough to keep me reading.
And then I hit the last chapters.
Finally, Collins and Katniss hit their strides. Katniss-the-badass returns at full speed and Collins' mastery of story makes it impossible to put down. Too bad the first 370 pages were so meh.
So, I give Mockingjay only three stars because it must be hard to maintain the sheer amazingness of the first two books, and Mockingjay fails. But, it's still a good ending to the series.
Catching Fire is incredibly violent. I think even more so than The Hunger Games. In the first book of the series, Katniss does very little killing. She knows, logistically, that everyone else in the arena will have to die in order for her to go home, but she is not okay with that fact and actually partakes in only two deaths. And only one was at her weapon.
In this book, however, she goes into the arena with a fixed plan, kill. Similarly to the first book, she is killing to save someone else. In the first book, she knows that if she does not make it back to District 12, her family will probably starve. In this book, her sole purpose is to make sure Peeta leaves the arena alive. She knows the reason everyone is in this situation is her refusal to kill Peeta the previous year. Now Districts are uprising and people are being killed.
The guilt she experiences is very real, but at the same time makes her seem a little naive. The Capital is angry, people in the Districts are beginning to see their rulers as the enemy, and it all started because Katniss refused to play by the Capital's rules. She knows this, but it is still hard for her friends and allies to explain why the people see her as a symbol. I can understand being reluctant to be the leader of a war that will result in the death of even more people than you already feel responsible for. I cannot understand her inability to see why those people chose her and now to begin the fight. This can be infuriating for someone like me, viewing this world from the outside, seeing the atrocities committed and then witnessing the heroine essentially wimp out.
That is not to say that Katniss is any less strong than she was in the previous book. She is still the only source of food for her family and many other people in her District. She is still a leader that other people look up to for decisions. She is still the one Haymitch takes orders from. But she appears weak when faced with her own leadership.
This of course all goes with the territory of being a 17-year-old girl. Especially one thrust into the spotlight as Katniss was, which makes for an honest experience, even if it can feel like yelling at the television.
But, as a genre, Young Adult (YA) fiction is full of honest experiences. That's what makes it great. Lately I have been hearing a lot of backlash against YA fiction, especially violent books like this trilogy. Apparently some people think that teenagers are not capable of separating fact and fiction in their lives and it worries adults.
Before I really delve into this argument, I just want to point out the incredible amount of privilege these writers are coming from. They tend to overwhelmingly assume that every teenager is in the same situation they were in. Writing about rape, eating disorders, molestation, suicide, body mutilation and murder is bad for teenagers because they are not already experiencing those things, so it supposedly makes them more interested in the dark subjects. But the truth is that teenagers' lives are much darker than these writers assume.
I have been reading a lot of YA recently, and I don't see that trend ending any time soon - it's a great escape from my required-reading English-major status. I am also not too far removed from being a teenager. Though I occasionally look at myself and wonder what the hell happened - last time I checked I was 16 - the fact is that I was still a teenager only 4 years ago. Looking back on my teenage years, I can still feel the loneliness and despair. I had friends and family that loved me, but I still felt alone. I still contemplated suicide. I still cut myself.
That is not to say that every teenager had the same experience I did. Some, thankfully, had it better. Some, unfortunately, had it worse. So to say that YA fiction puts these ideas into the heads of unsuspecting teenagers is ridiculous. It's sad, but every teenager probably knows someone who has cut themselves, or wanted to kill themselves. They probably have a classmate that is being molested or was raped. They probably know someone who was murdered.
It sucks, but that's the truth. YA does not normalize these horrible things. They are already pretty normal.
What YA does is give readers an outlet. Characters like Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen provide a simulated friend for these people to relate to.
Maureen Johnson, YA author of many great books, provided a brilliant NPR smack-down of the Washington Post piece in a joint interview with its author. This article gives a play-by-play of the YASaves movement that Johnson started in response to the WP article.
The whole point of the YASaves movement is to bring to light the terrible things that are happening to teenagers. Of course, none are being randomly chosen to battle to death for our amusement, but that does not make The Hunger Games any less valid as a reading choice. They are still great books with strong characters and real emotions.
Teenagers don't need protected from their emotions. They need characters that feel them too. That's what YA's for; that's what it's good at. Catching Fire is no exception.