Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Starcrossed

Josephine Angelini


I saved this book for last to post about today because it's the one I was most excited about this week and wanted it to be the first book people see when they look at the blog. Just to start off, I gave this book 5 stars. I loved it. It had a fantastic romance, greek mythology!!!, and a twisted plot. What could be better? I'm not going to say anything about it though. I hope people read it and find out for themselves.
It has some cuss words which really bugged me, but I don't know. Am I becoming callous? I have my limit's, but this one isn't too bad.
I am a little ticked I found out about this books so soon. It was just published 2 weeks ago. And, of course, it's a series. What books isn't these days? So now I have to wait another year to keep the story going. And it's a good story. Dang. I feel impatient!

Goose Chase

By Patrice Kindl

Goodreads Reviews

I recommend this book to young girls 10-15 years old. It is a super cute, yet somewhat lacking in literary substance, book that I think girls would love. I plan on calling my neice about it very soon. It's another princess fairy tale, similar to Shannon Hale's novels. If you liked those, Goose Chase will be good enough to keep you happy. It's definately not as good as say, Princess Academy, but it was fun anyway.

Hush: an Irish Princess Tale

By Donna Jo Napoli

Goodreads Reviews

Princess Melkorka is the daughter of a great king in Ireland, or "Eire Land." This book gives the account of what happens to her after she is kidnapped and taken aboard a slave trader's ship.
I felt like the novel went by a little slowly. It was an easy read, but I was disappointed by it. I hated the story line. It just kept going and going. One thing the book had going for it was that it was definitely not predictable. I imagined what would happen next, and then, the author just didn't fulfill. I can't say too much in case anyone is interested in reading this book, but in all honesty, there are so many books out there, and unless you are running low on books you know you could be reading instead, I say don't waste your time. Sorry Donna Jo, but don't give your books crappy endings (or middles for that matter) and I'll like them better!!
I gave this 3 stars because I just kept turning the pages which says something, but I kept turning the page to another disappointment.

Unwind

By Neal Shusterman

Goodreads Reveiws

In a way, this book reminds me a lot of The Handmaid's Tale (terrible book...don't read it). The author is taking a controversial topic, abortion, and giving us his interpretation of what could happen because of it. But instead of abortions, parents can choose to have their kids "unwound" between the age of 13-18. That way they would know for sure if the child was worth keeping. This is the story of kids that have been condemned to be unwound and their adventures in trying to escape that fate.

It was definately a page turner. I was glued to the book. I gave this book 5 stars. I'm thinking 4.5 would be closer to what I really feel, but because I couldn't put the book down, that says enough to bump it up a titch.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

The Way of Kings

By Brandon Sanderson

Be prepared. This book is a whopper. 1001 pages. This is the same author who finished Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. He also did a great series called Mistborn.
I can honestly say, this book was not a page turner. I had no trouble at all putting it down. I got a lot more done than usual because I wasn't side-tracked by a book. That's not to say it wasn't a good book. The idea is AMAZING. It's no wonder that this book has been his baby for years. Everything is so unique and exciting that it pulls you into the world he's created, but just not enough to HAVE to know what's going to happen next. Actually, up until page 950, I was debating whether or not I would even care to read the next book in the series when it is written. The ending was so good, though, that now I am positive I will be reading the next.
The issue I had with this book is that's it's told from so many different characters view points. In one chapter you'll read about one character, and in another, someone completely different and unrelated. So you go through the entire novel hoping that eventually these 10,000 characters (small exaggeration) that you've met will somehow meet and actually form some sort of a plot TOGETHER. My other issue is that I liked reading about some of the characters, and others I could've cared less about. I found myself wanting to peek ahead to see if I could find chapters about the characters I liked. But I refrained. I've ruined books by doing that. NOT RECOMMENDED.
I am excited to read the next book in the series though because I'm hoping all of these characters lives will become much more intertwined. For people who love fantasy, I'm pretty sure this book is going to be HUGE!
I'll give it 4 stars for it's creativity and awesome finish to the book that persuaded me to read the next.