Sarah Norton
Since I am not the target demographic, I try to imagine how I would enjoy this if I were. The MC is 14, and that is probably the general age this is geared for. It's a fun coming of age adventure with a very imaginative world. It had a bit of a dark Nedverland feel to it. Just swap out mermaids for zombies and “indians” for talking rhinos. It's a good story and Jack is a sympathetic MC.
It's probably not a full 4 star for me, but since I am well past the ya stage I'm bumping it up. It has a good story and kept me engaged. I found it a little predictable with a good bit of plot armor, but it ends the way you want it to end and I was satisfied at the end. It's a nice palette cleanser.
It's a good start. I enjoyed the magic system and world. It does seem inspired by Sanderson's type of world building, but the story is it's own. If you're a parent, it plays on your protective instincts. If you don't want to read something where small children are in danger or distress, then you may have some difficulty with this book. There is also a pretty gruesome torture scene.
It's a good start. It's apparentl influenced by Slavic lore, so the world had a different feel from what I am used to reading. I had some difficulty relating to the MC and some of the conversations that the characters had. There were also times the plot was muddy. I understood the main trajectory of the plot, but some smaller plot points were confusing. I had to reread some sections over and things still weren't as clear as I liked. I was left wanting enough that I want to see what happens.
It's worth the read to piece together all the little nuggets Sanderson dropped throughout the mistborn trilogy. He really starts bringing the different cosmere elements together in this novella as well. The story itself kinda jumps from one plot point to the next, so it's probably best to read it while the original trilogy (especially Hero of Ages) is still pretty fresh in your mind.
I struggled through this book, it is very sliw. It took me a year to commit to finish it. It reads kinda like a biographical history, and while it was enjoyable, I fell asleep multiple times. It is very character focused, so you become well aquanted with everybody's motivations and ideals. It wasn't until part three that the plot really took off. I recommend it, but not after a long day.
It was OK. The plot was a little convoluted and I could see the author was working to create a lovable crew of misfits. It just fell a little flat. It's possible that this will lay the ground work for the future books in this series. It's good enough that I will continue on to see how the next book goes, but just as filler when I want a light quick read.
This has been on my list for a long time. I'm glad I finally got to it. Wecker does a fantastic job of I interweaving Arab and hasidic lore with the immigrant communities where the golem and the jinni reside, showing the 2 MCs' difficulty adjusting to the human world against the backdrop of different cultures creating a new home in the US.
The beginning of this series definitely has a different feel and focus than the other books. It still follows Darrow, but his pov moves along with 3 other storyline and perspectives. I'm listening to the series, and it took me a few chapters to grasp what was happening with the changes between narrators. Once I got the flow of the narratives, I really enjoyed it. I actually enjoyed getting a break from Darrow and seeing the after effects of his choices from the first series.
This series has been on my list for years. I'm glad to have it under my belt, but I definitely enjoyed the second book more than the other 2 I've read so far. LeGuinn's writing doesn't really flow for me, it more goes from one event to another. This style does cut out a lot of minutiae, but I guess I like some minutiae. Overall, I am inversted enough to see what happens in this world, but it's not urgent.
This book is definitely leading the reader up to something big. Dresden is basically facing all his foes at once in someway or another. Butcher really likes to load up on issues. The book definitely has everything coming down on Dresden's head all at once, but we're used to that. There are some added players at the end, so it will be interesting to see how this all comes together. The book did it's job, it kept me interested and wanting to find out what is going to happen next.
This a very personnel story of a guy who ended up homeless for a little while. How he survived and the connections he made. It really gives you insight into what life can be like when you have no place to go. You see the trap some people are caught in and how hard it is to get out. He does a good job of narrating his story and showing what his and other's lives are like. I would recommend his story.
It's a solid book in the series. Yes, Butcher can get a little redundant, but I can skim over his descriptions of Dresden's beetle, dog, and brother. It was nice to have some more insight into his past, that aspect of his story has been ignored since he found Thomas. It feels like the story is moving forward a little more. Butcher does a good job of keeping me interested in and caring for his characters. It hasn't gotten stale for me yet.
This has got to have one of the worst beginnings of any book I have actually finished. I was so close to putting this down and it took me forever to finish. I get that this is narrated by someone who is the historian of his group, but there is very little context to what is going on. If he could have adding thing like, we sailed to this place and have been working for The Lady for this amount of time. Something to tell me what is going on. I kept rereading sections to see what I was missing, but it wasn't me, it was the information that was missing. Also, I thought these were Croaker's Annuls, but at the end there are things he is not going to put in the Annuls, so are these his writings or are we just in his head?
It does get better half way through, but there is a lot of casual rape going on. The main character even congratulates one of his buddies on the woman he is abusing. I get that rape and pillaging is pretty common for soldier type conquests, but still.
I did end up liking the last part of the book, and it has intrigued me enough to consider continuing on. I got the 3 book omnibus, so I already own the next 2. I will see if I feel like picking them up. Definitely taking a break from the world.
This is a good book, but let me put a couple warnings out there. This book is very dark and can be pretty gruesome (gory) and explicit in places. There is also a lot of profanity, in the prologue especially. I am used to the made up cuss words in a lot of fantasy, so this was a little jarring. I understand that this sets the mood for the world, but I just wanted to let others know that if this were a movie, it would be rated R.
I had trouble getting into this book. It is split into 4 parts and goes back and forth in time with “interludes” throughout the book, those are little snippets of what happened with Locke and his crew as they grew up, or sometimes events that are outside of the main plot. I enjoyed the interludes, especially the parts about Locke and his friends growing up. What I had trouble with was “Part I's” tendency to go back and forth between what Locke et al. were doing in the present and what they were doing earlier to get ready for their undertakings. It was like one of those retrospective episodes of Bones or NCIS. It completely broke the flow, and it took my brain a minute to catch up. It took me forever to get through that part, and I was afraid that it would continue in the same vein. Thankfully after the first part ended, the back and forth calms down and you really get the meat of the story.
For me, once the story picked up, it was very good. It keeps you on edge and wanting to know how/if the gang is going to get out of situation.
Also in regards to the prologue, was anyone else picturing Fagin every time the Theifmaker spoke?
Just me?
I had a little difficulty getting into this, but once it caught hold I really enjoyed it. Dresden is a solid character with flaws and all. I was afraid that the series would start getting stale, but Butcher is able to keep the story engaging and keep the reader caring about what happens to Dresden and his entourage.
This book was great, I enjoyed it more than the first. It definitely kept me more engaged throughout. I think what makes me the most happy is that Sanderson avoided writing a dud for the middle book. So many authors just use the second book to make way for the finale, so nothing really happens. Plenty happens in the book, and it keeps you on edge. I wasn't surprised with everything that happened, but it is all just so well written. Once again, he makes the fantastical believable. This is how YA should be written.
I've read a few books lately that i have not enjoyed. I could feel my slump coming back, so I picked up the Sanderson book I just bought. He has yet to fail me. This book is in a world where super humans pop up, but there are no heroes among them. It centers around an 18 year old David and a resistance group. Once again Sanderson is able to create a power system with rules and limitations that I could understand and believe. There are still a lot of questions left unanswered, but I am pretty sure they are meant to be answered in the sequels, and I have faith that the rest of the books will be as good as or better than the first.
David does seem a little immature at times, but I am not really the target audience, so he may not seem that way to younger readers. There is also a good bit of gore right off the bat, so if you don't want to read about some nasty things happening to people, and even infants, then you may want to steer clear. It's not too prevalent throughout the book, but it does have it's moments. All in all, the story kept me interested, and he had a few good surprises, though there are a few hints along the way. I plan on recommending this to my 14 year old step-son, I think he would really enjoy this.
[bc:Dealing with Dragons 150739 Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #1) Patricia C. Wrede https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385526967s/150739.jpg 1178402] was my favorite book when I was little, however I was never able to get the sequels till I was older. I read the second book a few years ago, but I just now read this one. It's about Cimorene's son (Daystar) who goes off on a quest, but doesn't know what sort of quest he is on. I have been rating these how I think I would have if I were still a 9 year old little girl. I will admit that I uttered the phrase “Girls rule, Boys drool” a few times at that age, so while liked the book, I would have been a little disappointing that this is not about Cimorene. Plus the Shiara, a fire witch and Daystar's travel companion, was so annoying. While I am fine with authors, (especially children's authors) adding lessons and moral to the stories, the whole “always be polite” motif was a little heavy handed. Even as a little girl I think I would have gotten a little tired of it.While I didn't like this as much as I did the beginning of the series, it is still a great children's book with a fun adventure. It ended up being a nice finish to great series.Ok, so I never knew that this was actually written first. I just read some reviews and saw that the other books were actually prequels. So a some of my critique may not stand. I can see how this would work actually work well without prior knowledge of the other books. You would be learning everything at the same time Daystar is. It probably is better to be as clueless as he is about his quest. There are a lot of “surprises” that would not be surprises to anyone who has read the other books, and that would have made it more fun. However, if that is the best way for this series to be read, then this shouldn't be marketed as book # 4. Not sure if that was a publisher's decision or not, but maybe they should make it more obvious that this book was originally the first in the series.
[bc:Dealing with Dragons 150739 Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #1) Patricia C. Wrede https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385526967s/150739.jpg 1178402] was my favorite book when I was little, however I was never able to get the sequels till I was older. I read the second book a few years ago, but I just now read this one. I have been rating these how I think I would have if I was still a 9 year old little girl. I Enjoyed this book, but I don't think I would have liked it as much as I would have the first 2. The adventure to find the sword, was a little more muddled, but it still had all the silliness and characters that I adored. Still a solid book for an elementary girl.
I read the first book in the series when I was in 3rd grade [b:Dealing with Dragons 1060958 Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #1) Patricia C. Wrede https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1456639732s/1060958.jpg 1178402], and that is the book that started my love of reading.This was well before the days of Amazon and my library didn't have any of the other books in the series, so I was an adult before I was able to get my hand on them. I wish I could have read this as a little girl, but even as an adult I still enjoy this book. It has all the adventure and silliness that a 9/10 year old would love. As an adult, I probably wouldn't give it 5 stars, but a 35 year old woman is not the target audience. You have to read it with your child glasses on. Little Sarah would have adored this book and given it 5 stars. I enjoyed the adventure to rescue the King of Dragons, the new characters that are introduced, and the relationship between Cimorene the King of the Enchanted Forest. We all know that a prince would be much to boring for the heroine.
I read this in 3rd grade, it's what I considered my first “real” book and it is the book that started my reading obsession. I really had some difficulty with reading before this book. After “Dealing with Dragon” I remember it kind of clicking.
I just read it again and it has not lost it's magic for me. It was turning fairy tails upside down before it was cool. I wouldn't be surprised if the makers of Shrek had read this first. Cimorene is a princess who doesn't want to be a princess so goes to live with a dragon. At age the of 9, I was enthralled. As a child of the 90's I was already in love with “The Little Mermaid,” and “Beauty and the Beast” (my personal favorite) was just coming out. So this was a perfect anti-princess to go along with the head strong Ariel and Belle. If you have a little girl that you want to get interested in reading, this would be a great place to start.
Unfortunately this was before Amazon, so I wan't able to get my hands on the rest of the series until I was an adult. But the rest of the books are not necessary (though they are recommended as well.)
I don't read much historical fiction, but I enjoyed the story about a f figure I didn't know anything about. The author was able to keep the story engaging while writing about the historical events. The war of 1812 is one of those periods that I was aware of, but didn't really have a firm grasp of. I'm sure I memorized facts for a test or two about this era, but nothing really stuck. With this story about Betsy Bonaparte, you really understand the entanglements between the US, France, and England, and how the Napoleonic wars could cause rifts over the ocean.