Josh
“It's the basic condition of life to be required to violate our own identity.”
This is a science fiction classic that all fans of the genre should read!
Firstly, i'm a massive Blade Runner fan so I always expected to enjoy this book, I've read a few books by Philip K. Dick in the past and I've loved some thinking others (Man in the High Castle) could have been epic but sadly failed.
I wont go into the story because if you dont at least know the story to Blade Runner... where have you been? but I will say this is a very atmospheric book like so many other true classics of the genre, your pulled into this futuristic noir world that questions what it is to be human, what separates us from truly advanced androids? Empathy.
We follow Deckard who is a bounty hunter, the bounty hunters hunt androids who have assumed human identities and this opens up so many worms, you grow attached and fall in love to find out your lover isnt human... how would you feel?
Over all, I loved this book and would highly recommend it!
“People don't get better, they just get smarter. When you get smarter you don't stop pulling the wings off flies, you just think of better reasons for doing it.”
After a what felt like a slow start I actually really enjoyed Carrie, she's a character you feel for who's lead a sheltered and beaten down life, a cruel joke was one step to far and she snapped, a good lesson for any bullies out there.
As a big King fan I probably should have read this sooner!
3.75 stars, the slow start means I cant give a full 4!
SO, this is a tough one to honestly review, i'm a big fan of the TV show and I see a lot of similarities although the plot and story are still very different... the main difference is Elena, Elena is basically Katherine in the books so that was a big difference to get use to.
Moving past that, Damon is painted in the same light as the first few VD series, the big bad with no good in him... anyone who's watched the show to its end knows that couldn't be further from the truth, I hope the following books will continue to shed more light on the characters as I know them but then again book and show are different so we will see!
Some changes just confuse me... Bonnie Bennett in the books is in fact a ginger Scottish Pagan, very different to the Salem esk story line I know. But again is it fare to compare book and TV?
100% i'll continue reading the story and its close enough to the show for me to enjoy it!
If your not a VD fan, I dont think these books will be for you, if your a fan of the show, there well worth a read!
3.5 Stars for In the Miso Soup.
I really enjoyed this read so dont let the 3.5 stars put you off, this is a short punchy read in a horror/thriller genre mix, I've been really into Japanese horror recently and I wanted to try some slightly different reads.
Minor spoilers/plot points below (you've been warned)
In the Miso Soup follows a tout/tour guide called Kenji.
Kenji shows tourists (mainly Americans) around Japans version of the Red Light District showing the best clubs and pubs along with the more X rated stuff that i'm sure I dont need to spell out.
Kenji is hired by an American tourist called Frank (instantly seems odd) for three days, Frank wants to see all the spots, his story doesn't add up and he keeps tripping up on small white lies, making Kenji doubt how much Frank is saying is true. Then the bodies start piling up in all the spots Kenji and Frank visit.
I wont say much more other than this is an enjoyable read, I wouldn't say its a classic but I would recommend it to people who want to try something different especially people like me who are fascinated by Japan.
FYI
There is one very VERY graphic killing scene that I found difficult to read through, if your triggered by heavy violence this might not be for you.
“Fear,” the doctor said, “is the relinquishment of logic, the willing relinquishing of reasonable patterns. We yield to it or we fight it, but we cannot meet it halfway.”
MINOR SPOILERS BELOW -
I enjoyed the Haunting of Hill House and it deserves its four star rating in my opinion, the first thing fans of the Netflix show need to be aware of is the story in the show is very different to the story in the book, some characters are named the same with similar personalities, the the setting (obviously) is Hill House but that's where the similarities end.
I would describe Hill House as a psychological horror, there are no real “events” that kick the story off its more of a gradual climb, characters personalities change progressively without realising and before you know it the house has its hold on you.
The books plot follows an author who is investigating Hill House and its history, he invites three assistants to help him and to also record there experience of Hill House, each person is though to be in touch with the supernatural in some way. As there time in Hill House increases there handle on normality decreases.
I would 100% recommend this book to horror or suspense fans, Just dont expect the show's setting.
Such a fantastic book! 4.5 stars!
I've been a big fan of the Witcher game series for a long long time, its taken me a lot longer than it should have to start reading the books but i'm really glad I've finally started.
Anyone who's played the games will be familiar with the set up of the books, we follow Geralt of Rivia as he hunts monsters and takes on quests, the book and games have a similar layout in the sense of there is one story (the main story) that we dip in and out of with multiple smaller stories (side quests) breaking up the main story, I really enjoyed this style as it kept the story fresh.
Some of the series key characters are introduced during The Last Wish and its great to see characters I love from the games being so well written, the story of how Geralt becomes good friends with Dandelion the poet and also how Geralt and Yen (Yennifer) meet are done especially well, the introduction to Yen really had me hooked and I cant wait to read more to see there relationship grow.
Now, I wont lie, in the games I always lean towards Triss over Yen so I would have liked to see Triss in book one, she was mentioned but didn't make an appearance, this inst a negative but she's a great character so I hope she makes an appearance in book #2.
For people who are not aware of the Witcher, a Witcher is someone who is trained and mutated as a child to hunt monsters and protect innocent people, as times change and the world evolves there are less Witchers and the remaining Witchers are treated as outcasts by most, however, when something goes wrong or there are monsters in your town Geralt is the man.
I would highly recommend this series to anyone interested in Fantasy, the world is well built the characters are memorable and very likeable and the focus on Polish folklore is really interesting bringing in monsters we dont see often. MUST READ!
Tip - If you dont know the Witcher, look at a trailer for the Witcher 3 Wild Hunt before reading the book, this will help give you an idea of the world and introduce you to some of the amazing characters!
Let me say first of all that I really enjoy Patrick Ness and his writing style, he has a beautifully descriptive style and (in my opinion) always makes interesting and complicated characters.
In And the Ocean Was Our Sky we follow Bathsheba who is a Whale starting her journey as a hunter, the twist is in this retelling of Moby Dick the Whale's hunt humans, Bathsheba is an interesting character but I wont lie its hard to make a cast full of Whales that interesting.
The story is fast (ish) paced and moves quickly so I didn't find the book hard to get through, I did most of it in an housr/hour and a half, i'm giving And the Ocean Was Our Sky four stars but thats mainly down to the illustrations, if this was a simple novel with no illustrations I would have scored it low, the artwork is beautiful and I would recommend it for that alone but done expect a classic.
I'll read anything written by Ness but this isn't one of my favourites.
So I would give Zoo 3.5 stars, the premise of Animals turning on man is fascinating and I think if it was more fleshed out it would have been an incredible book.
Oz is an interesting main character and the side characters although they don't get much page time are done well, this book highlights the stupidity of man and how often we are our own worst enemy but I wanted more from the book.
This was my first James Paterson book and probably wasn't the best place to start, I will read more by the author and although I did enjoy Zoo the main feeling I'm left with is a want of more.
Wow, let me say firstly if you one take one thing away from this review this is a Graphic Novel that any Batman/DC fan shout read, its EPIC!
As a big Batman fan this is one I've wanted to read for a while, grabbing it from my shelf I flew though over half the book in one sitting only stopping because of work #grownup.
I love the emotional storyline and how we see Batman/Bruce struggle with the familiarity of the Red Hood, this comic is well written, beautifully drawn with an in your face art style that works perfectly well, I especially loved the cameos from so many major DC characters once the story kicked off.
10/10 comic and it makes me want to go back and play Arkham Knight all over again!
3.5 Stars for The Women in Black.
We open the story with our main Character Artur Kipps and his family telling Ghost stories around the fire on Christmas eve, Arthur struggling with memories of his past quickly steps away before reliving his spooky experiences.
Arthur, a Junior lawyer is sent into the countryside to attend a funeral for one of his law firm's clients, he quickly realizes that all is not normal with the house he must explore.
The story is well written leaving most of the horror to your imagination with the final chapter ending well and genuinely leaving me with chills.
I would have liked more from the story but remembering this book is under 200 pages I feel like the story is well fleshed out with the main character of Arthur well fleshed out and believable, now I need to watch the stage show!
So let me say firstly, Finders Keepers is a good book.
I've scored Finders Keepers lower than I was hoping purely down to the slow start, I love this trilogy mainly because of Bill Hodges and his friends (Holly & Jerome) so when they didn't pop up for the first 100 pages or, so I wasn't confident I would enjoy Finders Keepers as much as Mr Mercedes.
That being said, this book has a great ending and when it got going I couldn't put it down, if the start has been quicker this would easily be a four-star book!
Finders Keepers does a great job at showing how far obsession can push a bad person over the edge causing them to do terrible things, but in their mind things that need to be done.
The antagonist wasn't up to the Mr Mercedes level in my opinion but the more time spent with him the more he grew on me, this is a good sequel but for me doesn't live up to Mr Mercedes, luckily End of Watch was brilliant so the series ends well!
Okay, so let me say first of all I in a rookie move I read End of Watch (The end of the series) before reading Mr Mercedes (the first in the series) so I know how this series ends before starting it.
That said, I enjoyed the end of the series, so I knew I would enjoy the first two books, Mr Mercedes in my opinion is one of Kings most underrated books/series! This is thrilling, intense, full of twists and over all very well written.
First plus, the main character in Bill Hodges is brilliant and a really enjoyable protagonist, he's a retired detective struggling to find his way since retiring (dreaming of the cases he didn't solve) I won't go into the plot in this review but safe to say Bill doesn't stay retired for long. Outside of Bill we have some great supporting characters who complement each other well, my personal favourite being Holly who comes in late.
Second plus, what a bad guy! Nothing is more important in a good thriller than a bad guy that keeps you on your toes, the Mercedes killer as he is nicknamed is crazy but in such a controlled way that he is inventive and seriously dangerous. The cat and mouse chase between Bill & the Mercedes killer had me on my toes from the start even though I know how the series ends and that to me tells you just how good kings writing is in this book.
Plot, again no spoilers, we follow the Mercedes killer who has so far managed to successfully avoid the police following a murder spree at a major jobs market, the Mercedes killer isn't happy with stopping there and wants to go down in history.
Our protagonist Bill takes it upon himself to stop the Mercedes killer before he can hurt anyone else.
8/10 BRILLIANT!
I fell in love with M.R Carey thanks to The Girl with All The Gifts.
This book is a must read for any horror fans especially fans of the slightly over saturated zombie/infection genre, that being said you cant compare this book to anything similar that's come before.
The setting (based in the UK) works perfectly with the story, it's nice to see a story based in the UK and UK horror of this style (i.e 28 days later) has its own style and feel vs Hollywood style zombie fiction.
Why does this work so well? Firstly, the characters, Melanie is a loveable lead character with believable motives, she loves Miss Justineau and will do anything to protect her, Miss Justineau is a well fleshed out character with a strong back story that means you understand her motives and reasoning when you might otherwise question what she does. Finally, and my favorite is Sargent Parks, Parks starts off as the “Bad guy” in the story keeping space between Melanie and Miss Justineau but again Parks is such a well fleshed out character that you understand his reasoning, he's scared yet everyone is looking to him for answers.
I won't say much more as I'll have to get into spoilers but let me just say this book is so underrated, The Girl with All The Gifts is a must read for any horror fans and one I will recommend to everyone who will listen!
This being my fifth time reading the Philosophers Stone I knew what to expect, I love the series and with this being the first book its always been my favourite.
I wont go on about the book lets face it everyone knows the story of Harry Potter, if you haven't already... READ THIS BOOK!
Five stars really isn't enough!
I've read quite a few Jacqueline Wilson books to my daughter but the illustrated mum is a special book.
Jacqueline Wilson writes in a way that's lid friendly, but treats them like adults at the same time. Reading the illustrated mum as a parent adds a layer that makes the story even more special.
Great book, amazing author, easy 5
I didn't read much Jacqueline Wilson as a kid but reading to my daughter has been a great excuse to jump into her works and I have to say, I really enjoyed Double Act!
Wilson writes in a way that's interesting to kids but really layered fot adults, these aren't simple kids books at all.
I don't usually like short stories but I quote enjoyed The Worry Website!
Each story is interesting enough and connected in a way that makes them all feel relevant, I'd mark it higher if they'd been fleshed out a bit more!
The “Worry” from a 12 year old competition winner was a great touch, you don't see things like that these days.
Overall, another great read from Jacqueline Wilson, the main negative is I would have liked more!
One of my favourite things about reading so much to my daughter had been finding stories and authors I wouldn't usually look at.
Jacqueline Wilson has very quickly become of my favourite children's authors, she writes such complex stories in such simple ways and she does a great job of demonstrating trauma.
When it comes to parents separating we all know it's tough, but seeing it through the eyes of Andy, the main girl of the Suitcase Kid, shows just how damaging it can be and how at times the children are a second thought to divorce.
This is a story I'd highly recommend, it's a quick read as well!
I think this is my fourth re-read first time reading to my daughter. There's a reason this series is such a classic!
Chamber of Secrets isn't my favourite HP book, but it's still fantastic!