There is this cute, bouncing red tomato bopping around GoodReads singing the praises of Melina Marchetta.
I'll admit that I ignored the Tomato because There is this cute, bouncing red tomato bopping around GoodReads singing the praises of Melina Marchetta.
I'll admit that I ignored the Tomato because my therapist said that it wasn't normal for fruit to recommend books to people. I accepted this advice because I'd already read Marchetta's Looking for Alibrandi and I hadn't enjoyed it.
I couldn't understand people's fascination with it, actually. Nobody in my class at school liked Looking for Alibrandi and I thought for awhile that maybe it was because we actually went to an Australian high school and nobody wanted to read a book pretty much depicting their own existence.
Which is what Marchetta does because I went to school with pretty much every high school character she's ever written. Also - The Butcher's paper? Yes, I can totally relate with my own hatred of Butcher's paper.
The point I'm trying to make is that, this tomato? You should totally, totally always listen to this tomato. The tomato is right. You are wrong. All hail the tomato.
Okay - onto my review.
Never before have I wished I could give a book more than five stars. I'd give this book seventy BAZILLION stars if it would just be my friend.
Francesca rocked my world. She had me at Butcher's paper. She won me over completely. I loved this book, I loved the story, I loved the characters.
If you haven't read this, not that that's a problem because I feel like the last person in the world to jump on the Marchetta bandwagon, then please do.
I cried while reading this book. I can't believe I actually cried like... real tears (as opposed to the FAKE kind!)
Today I almost attacked a man in public. A man who was yelling at and abusing his partner. Kicking the trolley, shoving her and screaming obscenities Today I almost attacked a man in public. A man who was yelling at and abusing his partner. Kicking the trolley, shoving her and screaming obscenities at her. I ditched the trolley I'd been pushing and stormed toward them, my mind blank of anything but ruthless fury.
The next part was like out of some stupid romance novel. Mr Kennedy pulled back on my arm and said, "No. There is no way you're going over there!" He took off the baby sling, handed it to me and sent me to go put the groceries and baby in the car while he handled it.
Usually that's the part of the novel where the female heroine swoons or something but I only got angrier. Did he just relegate me to child-minding and packing away groceries? Because I have a uterus? To say I was unimpressed would be an understatement.
Never before have I actually wanted to be a man. I love being a woman and I think being a woman is a fantastic thing to be. But I wanted to kick that man's ass. I absolutely hated myself for being weak and puny. It's not fair. To not be able to fight your own battles, to not be able to stand up for weaker people when you want to. It's so, incredibly, painfully unfair. Why can't I have big muscles? Why couldn't Mr Kennedy wait by the car while I got to go up and play harpsichord with his lower intestinal tract? Why must I swallow my pride and accept that I'm just not as strong or muscular as Mr Kennedy?
Perhaps it's that drive that made me connect so much with Tris. I wonder what kind of personality types would enjoy this novel? I've seen a lot of three star reviews and I just can't fathom why when this book was a solid five stars for me. Even with it's somewhat implausible storyline I loved it.
I loved all the characters, especially Tris, for being a hardass, cold motherfucker when other YA protagonists would whither and melt into a gooey puddle of patheticness.
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Maybe I connected with it because I could absolutely imagine being Dauntless. Catching moving trains? Abseiling? Fighting? Sign me up now. I think I would have loved every minute of it.
The writing was quite smooth and the action sequences were clear, concise and well-explained. The pacing and the plot never really give up, making this book difficult to put down.
Over all, I thoroughly loved this novel. I'm hard-pressed to come up with any flaws or issues that annoyed me.
Most of all, it made me wish I really could kickass and take names like Tris does. Perhaps taking up kickboxing would be a good place to start.
Don't forget to check out my blog, Cuddlebuggery, and add me on twitter!
If Joss Whedon and Jim Butcher had a love child that would one day grow up and write a novel - this would be the novel he wrote.
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PLUS
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EQUAIf Joss Whedon and Jim Butcher had a love child that would one day grow up and write a novel - this would be the novel he wrote.
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PLUS
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EQUALS
[image] Now would be the time to admit the truth about your parents, Hearne! ADMIT IT!
For the most part, Hounded is a delightful, action-packed urban fantasy novel with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, interesting characters and witty banter.
It's not a perfect novel. The main protagonist, Atticus, a 2100 year old druid living in Tempe, Arizona is a fantastic character. Unfortunately, Hearne realized what an awesome character he'd written and accidentally took that step into making him just a little TOO awesome. Reading about Atticus standing around pwning yet ANOTHER person with his cool witty banter and incredible intellect eventually becomes a little tiresome.
Characters like Buffy and Captain Mal, whom Atticus is strangely linked to in my mind, are fantastic characters - and what makes them doubly awesome is that they aren't perfect. Atticus needs to have a flaw which doesn't include him being too good with the ladies. That's like going to a job interview and stating that your personality flaw is that you just work too hard!
[image] My dashing good looks and charm really are a curse...
Over all, 3.5 stars from me and I look forward to reading the next book in the series!
I'd heard a lot of bad things about this book long before I ever started it. I avoided reading it a long time because of the discussion about misogynyI'd heard a lot of bad things about this book long before I ever started it. I avoided reading it a long time because of the discussion about misogyny and white males winning. I don't like those kinds of books. Begone evil white male power historical fantasy books!
*Hisses*
This is not what I found here. Do I prefer a universe where characters are equally respected and have equal opportunities despite gender? Yes. Do I prefer a bevy of naked men and women on my bed right now ready for an old fashioned orgy right now?
...back to that visual later.
What I'm saying is that it's the characters most other authors are want to discount as lackeys and side characters that become main characters and their realistic, fatally-flawed, compassionate creation is what made this book excellent.
That and the amazing writing, stunning setting and the narration which, for an audiobook, is vital.
See, a book itself is a bit like a group of naked people on your bed ready for an orgy. Not everyone has to be super beautiful and attractive because, really, who's looking at faces?
I digress.
Actually, what was my point?
I don't know. Orgies are good and so is this book. Though so far no orgies. But this book is a lot like an orgy.
I'm always very suspicious of baby books written by people who are mostly unqualified and/or don't have children of their own.
Sheyne Rowley has an AsI'm always very suspicious of baby books written by people who are mostly unqualified and/or don't have children of their own.
Sheyne Rowley has an Associate Diploma in Social Studies but has done two years for her Early Childhood Development.
No children and only years of caring for and consulting parents to fall back on. Yet, in the baby books publishing world that almost makes her over qualified.
Unfortunately I don't go in big for routine management or strict sleeping schedules. However, this book is specifically designed and written for six month olds onwards. Day time routines at that age are an entirely different story to trying to put a three week old onto a routine, thus my sensibilities aren't offended.
The best parts of this book are its chapters on communication with children and its advice on quality playtime - two things that I think are very important and often neglected.
Some of the feeding and sleeping advice in this book, however, is not so positive and I would be reluctant to recommend it to a parent out of fear that a young child would be left to cry for long periods of time based on the information provided in this book.
Still, there is a great deal of information about length of sleeps, naps and sleep requirements that I found useful.
Unfortunately, the little gems in this book are buried under mountains of poorly edited rhetoric. Someone needs to take this book, cut out the waffling and make it at least 200 pages shorter. So many things are needlessly repeated, restated as if the author forgot she'd already mentioned it, or just placed in the wrong section.
As with any parenting book, my advice would be to read it and determine whether the information contained within will work for your particular child. Not all children conform well to strict routines and heavy management so you'll need to use your own judgment with this one!
Mostly, because without a lot of information and preparation, I'd likely be a pretty shit parent. It was either I had high expectations for this book.
Mostly, because without a lot of information and preparation, I'd likely be a pretty shit parent. It was either read a buttload of books and hope for the best or let the TV do the job for me.
[image] I'm still not sure I made the right choice...
I want to make it clear that if there is a particular parenting philosophy that I give favouritism to (much like I do to the child that annoys me the least) it would be Attachment Parenting. It is the child rearing philosophy that I most emulate and use.
The reason I'm disappointed in this book is because it makes a lot of promises that it backs up with almost no research. Perhaps there wasn't that much research supporting Attachment Parenting in 2001 but there must have been some because you almost trip over all the studies and research supporting attachment parenting now.
I also dislike any parenting method promising your child will grow up better/smarter/more successful etc. Look, you can breastfeed, baby-led wean, co-sleep, babywear, elimination communication, etc all you like. But all this will do is mean that you have a breastfed baby that eats whatever it can fit in its mouth when it's not sleeping in your bed and attached to your body and letting you know through various methods of cooing that it's about to pee down your front.
It's not a promise that your child is going to be a doctor. That doesn't mean all that stuff isn't great (except for the elimination communication shit - I'm just nowhere near that dedicated as a parent...) but it's not a predictor for future success.
The book is really dumbed down and thus painful to read as most of it is basically answering question after question. It's not until the very back of the book that they outline particulars of Attachment Parenting and I don't think they do it rather well.
Over all, if you want to read into Attachment Parenting then maybe try a different book...
Or, alternatively, care less about your parenting.
[image] The experts assure me that a little childhood trauma builds character...or maybe that was Ed, Edd and Eddy? It's hard to remember this stuff in between neglecting my son and leveling my Warlock....more
This book was loaned to me by a friend who had purchased it, but not read it. I only finished this book so that I could do a comparative review to RaiThis book was loaned to me by a friend who had purchased it, but not read it. I only finished this book so that I could do a comparative review to Raising Boys: Why Boys Are Different-And How to Help Them Become Happy and Well-Balanced Men but after reading it, I realized that this book is far more comparable to I Am America than any serious or informative text on raising boys.
Despite the fact that Raising Boys is vague on details, out of date and amateurish in the more intimate areas of brain functioning and child development, it is still far more helpful, informative and useful than this book will ever be.
You can be forgiven for assuming, as I did, that Bringing Up Boys is a book concerned with providing information for parents in understanding their boys, a variety of tips and advice on their problem behaviors and an overall plan on how to smooth the journey.
Unfortunately, Dobson's only answer to all of the above is the same to any question asked in Sunday School (and here's a tip, it's ALWAYS a variation of the following three): Jesus, prayer, the Bible.
Okay, you expect a book by an evangelist to run in such a theme. However, I also expected a book by a person with a doctorate is psychiatry to provide informed, balanced, professional advice based on research, statistics, studies and personal experience.
No. Dobson unapologetically hates feminists, liberals and homosexuals and he makes absolutely no attempt at providing balanced information. This book is nothing more than fear-mongering propaganda. Though he uses many studies to try and validate his opinion, he out-right omits balanced data or studies that don't confirm his opinion. Some of the studies he uses are out-dated or invalidated by other studies. His statistics are used to validate his opinions in one area, then disregarded in another.
For example, at one point he claims that there's no evidence for a genetic inheritance of homosexuality because twin studies show that if one twin is homosexual, then the other is statistically "only" %50 likely to be homosexual as well. Yet, later in the book he claims that our genetics are a major influence on our life and uses another twin study to validate this by stating that if one twin gets divorced then then identical twin has a %45 chance of divorcing as well!
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Now I'm not arguing about the nature vs nurture because the bulk of recent scientific studies show that we are largely products of our genetics - in that part, he's right but there's little else in this book that I can say that for.
Mostly, because this book's advice for raising boys can be summed up as:
1. JESUS! 2. Love them lots 3. Spend time with them 4. MAKE SURE THEY DON'T CATCH TEH GAY! 5. Homeschooling, yeah!
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This book was offensive to logic, reason and most of all, humanity. Dobson hates:
1. Homosexuals 2. Women's liberation 3. Liberals 4. Namby-pamby people who let their children play with gender-neutral toys and don't provide young boys with toy guns, don't smack and practice that hippy, attachment parenting philosophy. 5. The media
He is terrified of them all and this book, rather than being about Bringing Up Boys as the title suggests, is really about vilifying all of the above and scare-mongering his readers into hating and fearing them as much as he does.
Every chapter went something like this:
You need to spend time with your kids. I really FEEL for single mothers/homosexuals/poor people/women who don't fit my small and pathetic definition of what I think a woman should be. Unlike me, who is a disgustingly rich, upper middle class, white man, I understand that you don't have the benefits of choices about spending time with your children. Some of you have to work in order to survive. Gee, must be tough.
But it's still important so if you can't spend more time with them... eh, I really feel for you. Please enjoy my heart-touching tale of how I once met a single mother/homosexual/poor person/woman that didn't fit my small and pathetic definition of what I think a woman should be and changed their life in a positive way. I'm so awesome.
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As a woman and a feminist, I want to be mostly offended at his narrow and pathetic views on what and who I should be. However, I'm far more offended on behalf of the homosexual community who he ALMOST outright incriminates of conspiring to rape your boys. Didn't you know? All homosexual men want is to have buttsecks with little boys. All lesbians want is to groom little girls into future lesbians and - perhaps worse, feminists. I especially love how he uses the example of the LBGT community in the UK pushing for the age of consent for homosexual boys to be lowered to 16 in order to try and prove his allegations about homosexuals. Yet he conveniently neglects to mention that this was in order to equalize the age of consent because the AOC for heterosexuals was already 16! At one point he even claims that the breakdown of marriage in the US is due to the rising acceptance of same-sex relationships.
Riiiiiiiiiigggghhht!
Like I said, logic isn't his strong point!
Similarly, women's liberation is also at fault for all the ills of society and most of all, for troubled young lads. It's too exhausting to address his many inaccuracies and prejudices toward women and since this review is long enough already, I'll just leave you to assume the worst - you'll most likely be right. I wish, instead, that he'd look at his own research. He claims again and again that fathers are essential to the raising of strong, good young men. I absolutely agree. So maybe men are to blame for the current male crisis?
There are good novels and then there are good novels. This one is the latter.
However, it's hard to pin down why it's such an amazing novel.
Sure, I coThere are good novels and then there are good novels. This one is the latter.
However, it's hard to pin down why it's such an amazing novel.
Sure, I could comment that the writing was flawless and brilliant. The characters were fleshed out, detailed and intricate. The setting was technicoloured, nostalgic and almost touchable.
But I think what really makes this novel is the gritty, raw, awkwardness of it.
Evie is on the cusp of womanhood. She's so close she can almost taste it and yet, she rankles with childishness. She's naive, with a dreamy, delusional view of life and the world. She sees the world and the people in it with a child's eyes and understanding that is portrayed so well by Blundell.
It doesn't help that her mother is classic. Effortlessly beautiful, with a rich understanding of humanity, people and how to work them. It can't be easy for any teenage girl to develop a healthy self-esteem about herself when she has that impossible image to live up to.
On their holiday in Florida, Evie meets Peter. He's suave, charismatic, worldly and charming. She's instantly caught up by him and clings tenaciously to her dreams and fantasies - blinding herself to the mystery, intrigue, and clues that surround her. The slight of hand, the winks, the double entendres all fly over her head whilst all are laid bare for the careful reader.
Then we watch, agonizingly, already knowing what's going to happen and powerless to stop it. What I love about this novel, is being able to read it as an adult. Because, I felt like Evie was my child, or even myself at fifteen. And I read this novel with great affection for her. I felt for her - because I knew the world she'd eventually end up living in. It's the world that adults go to and it's not a nice place. Teenage years are meant to bring the child into it bit by bit. But it doesn't go that way for Evie. She's suddenly catapulted into it - leaving me saddened at the childhood that was lost and can never be returned. I felt anguished knowing the world she had to step into.
If you're still a teenager, waiting to grow up - I guess this book is perfect for you. Listen when her mother says, "Don't be in such a hurry to grow up, baby. It's not all polka dots and moonbeams, you know."
But I know you won't listen, I didn't either at your age....more
Do you remember that Taylor Swift song about Romeo and Juliet, Love Story?
It's lyrics go something like this:
I'm a pretty little girl who knows nothiDo you remember that Taylor Swift song about Romeo and Juliet, Love Story?
It's lyrics go something like this:
I'm a pretty little girl who knows nothing about literature So I sing a song about starcrossed lovers Whose only problem is that Daddy doesn't approve But it's all good because we get married anyway. Just like that cliffnote's story about Romeo and Juliet!
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyy!
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We have a tendency with YA literature today, to have stories with the super duper happiest of happy endings where everything works out and true love's only real complications are external difficulties, and self-esteem issues for the girl.
I'm trying to think of the perfect example here and because this review is full of cheap shots at easy targets I'm going to go with...
TWILIGHT!
Come on down, Bella and Edward!
Now, don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with happy endings and butterflies and rainbows and kittens. They're lovely, lovely things and in the hands of an accomplished author, they do well. There's also nothing wrong with having a relationship that's troubled by only external forces. Once again, in the right hands it's fine. I'm not being a miserly old Grinch here. Okay, maybe a little bit, but moving on!
The problem is that in real life, relationships are usually impacted by internal factors. So when you base your story on perfection that can only be tainted by evil people trying to destroy your true love, and twist the story to finally reach that happily ever after, then what you sacrifice is often the very real, almost-tangible, relatable emotions that a more realistic, thoughtful storyline could bring.
And also, Romeo and Juliet is a TRAGEDY, Taylor Swift.
[image] Thank you, Kieran Culkan. You're a fresh breeze amongst the stagnant world of apathetic performers.
Now what I love about Laini Taylor, other than everything, is that this woman is made of fairytales. I swear she's like woven together by sweet kisses and dewdrops. She's been sung into being by blind minstrels bathed in moonlight. She's wrapped in gossamer and shrived in pure white swan feathers. You know, all that magical shit. She's that. The woman is magic and she writes magic. If anyone could take Romeo and Juliet, mate it with a YA paranormal romance and produce a love child that people don't want to drown at birth - then it would be Laini Taylor.
This book is powerful, emotive, heart breaking, anguishing!
What I'm saying...the point I'm trying to make here...the truth is... Laini Taylor kicked my heart in the ass.
I mean, it is about a young adultish human and zombie who fall in love and set about to change the world with love. BuThis is not a young adult novel.
I mean, it is about a young adultish human and zombie who fall in love and set about to change the world with love. But this is not a young adult novel.
It has themes of young love and disaffected youth and hopeful new beginnings but this is not a young adult novel, people!
Regardless of what it is, it’s a pretty good novel, but I have a confession. This is going to translate in people’s minds as me being simplistic and unable to handle the deeper, more complicated themes of this book – but I don’t care.
I liked the movie better.
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Major fans of the book are going to virulently disagree with me – but I thought it actually managed to streamline the story highly effectively, keeping the spirit of the novel without deviating from anything important. In fact, the way it restructured some events, I actually thought, created a more emotional impact.
But the book itself is still pretty good, though I wonder at some of the weird turns it takes. Like zombie sex. Lots of zombie sex. Nice to know that even zombie women experience objectification. Comforting. Guess some things never change. Objectification and unsatisfying sex straight into the un-life.
R is adorkable, and if I never have to type the word again, it will be too soon. But he is. In the midst of his mid-death crisis with an unfulfilling zombie-marriage and two little tykes to drag him down, life seems empty and unfulfilling. R wants to be alive again. He even gets a sports car and kidnaps a young girlfriend. Luckily, unlike reality, this is fantasy so it’s all okay. As opposed to the time I kidnapped my own young girlfriend and got a sports car. That turned out to be a big mistake.
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I love Julie. I mean, she’s a total idiot, a dreamer and so far removed from reality that it might as well be the third nipple she never had. But she was a wonderful character nonetheless, who I completely adored. I adored everyone, almost as much as I adored the writing. Which was pretty evocative, raw, kind of gross – but in a good way.
The only thing I struggled with in this book was that I felt the pacing and overall narrative flow of the movie made so much more sense and was a lot tighter, stronger and more powerful. Otherwise, if you like zombies, existential crises, stories of young people improbably overcoming impossible circumstances and weird zombie sex, then this is the book for you!
This is a romance novel. If you're unfamiliar with the romance formula then I'm about to spoil every single romance novel ever:
They all end on a delirThis is a romance novel. If you're unfamiliar with the romance formula then I'm about to spoil every single romance novel ever:
They all end on a deliriously happy note with an abundance of perfection.
So whilst I won't discuss the actual end to this book, I don't think I really will be spoiling everything if I discuss the TYPE of end this book has and why it means that I just wasn't really meant for the romance genre.
There was a lot to enjoy about this book. For starters, considering it is billed as a romance novel, its world building was rather impressive. The "Psys" (people with specialized psychic/mental abilities), "Changelings" (shifters of various animal varieties) and humans all live together with Psys generally occupying the higher echelons of society.
The Psys are supposed to be completely unemotional and rational.
[image] Which generally means they live long and prosper!
While Changelings are moving up the social ladder leaving the humans in the gutter... where presumably they belong. I'm not sure - they don't feature much in this novel and I must say, as a human, I find this pretty offensive. The sole token human in the novel barely has a part!
Okay - so emotions are forbidden which makes things kind of awkward for resident Psy, Sascha Duncan and Alpha Changeling hunk, Lucas Hunter.
Luckily, it's a romance novel so they naturally work through it.
[image] Or else...
My issue is that I just obviously wasn't really meant for the romance genre because I was perfectly fine with this book up until the last couple of chapters. I don't want a super happy ending. Not if it doesn't make any bloody sense and just comes out of nowhere.
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Also, I have more issues with paranormal romance and that is because most of them have a "mate for life" policy in which the paranormal creatures actually CAN'T mate with anyone else - even if their spouse dies.
Look, this isn't even true in nature. First of all, not all wolves mate for life in the wild - usually only an alpha pair. And you know what - if one of that pair dies, the other one will probably find another mate!
It's kind of a sick thing to romantizice over too, when you think about it. "He loves me so much, that if I died, he'd rather abandon our children and the world to come join me."
I don't think that's romantic at all. In fact, I think it qualifies as a very unhealthy relationship!
There were definite dominance and control issues in this story that annoyed me as well. Because, you know, the man is always right and a woman can't choose to make a sacrifice for something she believes in. That's just not right. She should listen to her man. She needs permission to do these things.
What is it with that in today's literature? Do we still want a man that's going to knock us unconscious just to retain control?
Okay, story time with Kat:
I'm pregnant and am therefor clinically insane. Mr Kennedy arrived home from work a few weeks ago to find me in the backyard tilling the soil.
"What the hell are you doing?!" he exclaimed angrily.
I glanced up from my hard labour, puffing but excited. "Look, honey! I'm making a veggie patch! Now we'll have nice fresh veggies to eat!"
Mr Kennedy looked at me with a special kind of horror as he began to mentally tabulate exactly how many more weeks this madness was likely to go on for.
"You hate gardening! Why would you want a veggie patch? Why, Honey? Why??!!"
I laughed at his silliness. Everyone needs a veggie patch. Silly, silly man! "Oh! It'll be fun! I'll just finish tilling this soil and then we can go out right away and buy some seedlings! We'll have nice fresh veggies by the time the baby comes!"
Mr Kennedy now has a Pavlovian upchuck reflex to any sentence that ends in, "...by the time the baby comes!" There is a certain manic way pregnant women say that, which instantly informs the rest of the world that reason and logic no longer hold any value.
I then began furiously churning up the soil with one of those pick-axe-like things that you use to do this kind of work. I don't know really, I found it in the shed and it looked like it'd do the job. I think I've seen someone use it in a movie.
"Will you stop that! You're pregnant!"
"Don't be silly, I'll be done soon, darling!"
Mr Kennedy groaned before stripping off his work shirt, snatching the pick-axe from me and saying, "Fine, I'll do it! You just go sit down over there!"
It was at this point that I could KIND of understand why my female ancestors traded some of their freedom and rights if it meant getting to watch a man like him work in the field every day.
[image] Because frankly, he looks a lot like this. And he was very, very impressive... with that pick-axe...
But I'm crazy, and pregnant and hormones are what they are.
The fact is though, that as crazy and pregnant and hormonal as I am, I still don't want a caveman who thinks he can threaten, control, dominate and bully me. Though I have consistently made sure I'm doing heavy work around the time Mr Kennedy gets home so that I can watch him do it instead, no man is hot enough to be ordering me around and stomping all over my free-will, damn it!
Thus the three stars! Because I can't enjoy a story where the final lines go something like this, "And so I learned that my husband was right all along..."
Seriously, people? I'm married. My husband hasn't been right since he signed those papers! It's a fact of life.
Okay, you know that guy, THAT guy. The one so insanely hot that any flaws, personality issues or intellectual deficiencies pale in comparison to his sOkay, you know that guy, THAT guy. The one so insanely hot that any flaws, personality issues or intellectual deficiencies pale in comparison to his smoldering sex appeal.
[image] And you know how he looks a lot like Ryan Reynolds...
This is how I feel about this book.
I will be the first to admit that it is not a perfect novel and rightly so, I should only give it four stars. The problem is that I just can't help myself. It has its issues. Whoever edited it did an appalling job. There were a couple of aspects of the story that were borderline silly. Not to mention that this novel could have been improved with richer, more tactile descriptions. Lastly, I just know that some readers are going to struggle with being tossed into the deep end on the story-telling side of things and struggle to keep up with this new and unfamiliar world.
But I don't fucking care.
This book is a glorious, shirtless Ryan Reynolds to me and I don't care if he does corny movies, can't act and is a little strange. HAVE YOU SEEN THAT SIX-PACK?!
[image] In case you missed the first one
Seriously, he could sacrifice babies as part of his religion, he could have single-handedly caused the extinction of every cute animal on the planet, he could like NICKELBACK and I would still be attracted to him!
So I don't care about the issues mentioned above regarding Burn Bright. This book is a wet-dream for any teenage emo. Retra escapes from her morally rigid home to find her runaway brother on the party island of Ixion. There are basically no rules on Ixion except for one: When you get too old, the party's over and nobody really knows what they do to you then.
Retra causes some upset with the "Ripers" (the people in charge of Ixion) and with the strange Night Creatures who lurk in the dark. At first Retra, a morally uptight shut-in, is an outcast among the wild youth whose only purpose in life is the freedom to party. However, when she becomes a catalyst for change on Ixion, she begins to unlock its secrets and form strong bonds of friendship with others.
This book is dark, gothic and mostly original. It stands out amongst a sea of interchangeable paranormal YA. It's sexy, it's mysterious and very readable. It's everything Fallen and its ilk wanted to be and failed miserably at.
Hi! My name is Val and I'm a kickarse Vampire hunter with a heart of gold. I protect the people I love even though they often hurt me.
[image] Excuse tHi! My name is Val and I'm a kickarse Vampire hunter with a heart of gold. I protect the people I love even though they often hurt me.
[image] Excuse the terribly hideous picture, I haven't put my lip gloss on yet!
My nickname against the Vamps is The Slayer. I work for the police. My partner is an honourable, nice guy (kind of like he was corn fed in Iowa or something) who struggles with my supernatural side.
[image] He also resembles the only love interest in Buffy that people universally agree should have died a painful, painful death. Also, nobody liked him.
My sister is a real pain in the ass. She wants to get in on the vampire slaying scene but she's just a regular kid who's a bit of a brat and only ends up causing more trouble.
[image] But she has nice boobs so we keep her around...
People and characters have a tendency of showing up out of nowhere, providing me with exactly what I need for no real reason and seem to exist only to further the very manufactured plot of my life.
I hope you'll read my story. It's very interesting and COMPLETELY unpredictable! I bet you've never read anything like it. Ever.
Even though something COMPLETELY amazing and awesome seems to be missing from my life.
[image] I can't be certain but I'm pretty sure it looks something like this!
This ARC was provided to me by Carina Press and no money was exchanged for this review
It wouldn't be entirely true to say that Steam & Sorcery is JaneThis ARC was provided to me by Carina Press and no money was exchanged for this review
It wouldn't be entirely true to say that Steam & Sorcery is Jane Eyre with a mechanical Kraken.
[image] Much like a Mechanized, gun-toting Abraham Lincoln: It would blow your mind!
Because, firstly, there are no mechanical Kraken in this novel and because it's more like a SteamPunk The Sound of Music only a little less awesome than even that would be.
Still, it's quite fun and fresh. Not quite the Gothic romance it aims to be but still highly readable.
Merrick as a thirty-five year old crime-fighting magician of sorts who adopts five street urchins with unusual talents.
[image] His interrogation techniques are pretty brutal...
He hires Caroline, who is unique as well, to be their governess. Enter romance, action and sweet family bonding time.
Most of the characters in this novel were great. I felt Dorothy was highly under used but that Merrick lacked charisma and personality. This contributed to what I felt were uninspiring romance scenes and a lacklustre romance in general.
The ending was very much rushed and the last action scenes were really just uninvolved recaps of the drama.
Over all, though, the book was still a fun read. Even if it totally lacked in the mechanical Kraken department.
So I was thinking that I need to get me some hot, immortal teen-boy action because that is not at all creepy and weird.
The first step was to kill eithSo I was thinking that I need to get me some hot, immortal teen-boy action because that is not at all creepy and weird.
The first step was to kill either one or both of my parents because I feel, statistically, that to be a YA protagonist, I would have a much better chance of meeting a hot, immortal teen-boy that way.
[image] It was surprisingly easy to do...
I also needed a legitimate reason to look sad all the time so that when he first saw me, I could look a little like this:
[image] Took me FOREVER to figure out how to make myself and my surroundings sepia with a softglow - but I didn't want to ruin the first moment my prospective hot, immortal teen boyfriend looked at me.
In this instance I decided to go to Paris because they have the best coffee shops to sit and look pensive in. Location, location, location. I wasn't going to ruin my deep, spiritual brooding with some podunk town like FORKS. Ha!
I signed up to go to school and refused to make any friends because, once again, statistically that would impinge on my chances of meeting the hot, immortal teen boyfriend. In fact, I was so dedicated to this that I wiped any memory of school from my mind and never, once, thought about it.
It looked hopeless for a while there but then... success!
[image]
BUT, he was WAY too old so I had to throw him back and look for something barely legal.
[image] Ooookay... I'm so getting arrested for that.
You know what? It was Zac Efron. He's legal, right? Zac Efron - famous, over 18 actor, was also a hot, immortal teen boy.
[image] Better! So. Much. Better.
So I met him and even though he was a little bit of a jerk and really strange - I refused to behave in a socially acceptable manner and stalked him. Behold my success! We're now totally, totally in love. Forever. No take-backsies.
Then stuff happened. Evil things. Scary things. I got held captive a lot - wicked awesome! But he proved how much he loved me and how much he believed in maintaining stereotypical archetypes and came to my rescue.
Even though we don't really know the first things about each other, we both know we have a deep spiritual connection. Haha! Spiritual! Get it? It's funny. So I just want you to know that you TOO can land your own hot, immortal, teen boyfriend if you follow my simple formula for success.
*Warning: unhealthy relationship dynamic not included. Creepy ghost romance each sold separately....more
*This ARC was provided for me by Harlequin and no money was exchanged.*
I requested this galley because, after reading the blurb, I immediately decided*This ARC was provided for me by Harlequin and no money was exchanged.*
I requested this galley because, after reading the blurb, I immediately decided that the concept was awesome and that this book would be made of win. I tried to rationalize with myself that it might not be the fantastic story I was imagining, but it still had to be good, right? RIGHT?
Of course the concept of Vampire has already been taken, murdered, chopped into little pieces, jellified and poured into a modern, PC mould of super coolness.
[image] I just didn't realize you could do that to the entire Greek Mythology as well.
And this is where to entire book falls apart. Which is extremely sad because the concept was so awesome. There was potential for REAL characters, great dialogue, witty mythology-based banter, awkward circumstances and believable chemistry.
Mythology: The Greek gods and goddesses, like normal people except with immortality and individual powers. They torment, rape or save mortals and generally act insane before retiring for the evening to get drunk and partake in debauchery. TGT: The gods and goddesses are no longer blood relatives and they're no longer Greek. They're equal opportunity dieties. They don't stand for any immoral shenanigans and consider human life valid.
[image]
Mythology: Hades is a mostly okay god having only raped a few mortals and embroiled in a small case of kidnap which may or may not have given Persephone the world's first case of Stockholm Syndrome. He is the guardian to the Underworld which is a miserable place according to every spirit spoken to, the few retrieved or those couple who've bravely entered alive and lived to tell the tale. DON'T try to mess with or remove spirits from this horrible place. It seriously pisses Hades off though he has been known to return a spirit or two because he's a generally alright God. He's the eldest of his three brothers. He has an awesome helm of invisibility and a few other useful trinkets and also a three-headed dog. TGT: Hades is a brooding, twenty-two year old (looking) VIRGIN immortal, with a ONE headed dog named Cerebrus and none of the awesome or LACK OF VIRGINITY. His only powers seem to be an incredible ability to angst up a room and all the romantic tact of a wet fish with a bad case of herpes (WHO IS A VIRGIN!) He also follows some preset rules (if gods don't make the rules then who does?) and is generally a pussywhipped virgin!
[image] Oh, how the mighty have fallen...
I could go on, but I think it's enough that the original mythology which was this book's biggest drawcard, has been destroyed and along with it, the possibility of a really great story. Because, after all, you can't proudly base your story so heavily on Greek mythology and then turn it into something so very uncomfortably western and Christian based.
The characters weren't all bad. Kate was extremely exasperating in the beginning of this novel. She, for good reason, believes that Hades has the ability to take life and death right up until she's in his beautiful mansion and has seen all the proof. Then she refuses to believe any of it and insist he's crazy.
The biggest problem is that when you're reading a story about being tested to become a god or goddess, you're kind of expecting the trial to be somewhat hard. You know, stealing the Girdle of Hippolyte or DESTROY A FREAKIN' HYDRA!!! It's immortality, dude. You can't just go giving that shit away.
One day I would like to discuss why a man gets twelve tests that require strength, skill, cunning and intelligence; and a woman gets seven tests requiring morality and humility. There seems to be an underlying message there for those people who want to draw conclusions.
And that's my final problem with this story. It's not that the writing is necessarily bad or that all that characters are bad. Most of them are fine and this book is actually readable. My problem is the massive copouts left, right and centre.
Being coerced into a deal to save your mother's life should involve maybe a few more hardships than getting to wear pretty dresses, living in a rich mansion and falling in love with a super sexy God. Tests for immortality should be a little more difficult than going an afternoon without food and letting your friends have the clothes that you didn't want anyway.
Finally, I felt the entire ending of this story was the biggest copout of all.
It's been a sad trend in YA lit that everything always has to be hunky-dory perfect with a kickass outfit to boot. I was really hoping this book would be something special and unique. The Goddess Test didn't pass its final grade.
Kat Kennedy
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