Ana
I received this copy in exchange of an honest review, for so, none of my feelings were affected or biased by the author or publisher.
Update: 09/06/2015
If you'd like to read this review on my blog.
Rating: 3.25/5 stars.
Zoo Orchestra, is a children's book that talks about the instruments found in an orchestra, and associates them to animals in a funny way. In here, we get a little information of both the instrument and the animal, while having fun!
I think this book was actually good. It was meant for kids, to teach about the instruments in a fun relatable way, and that's what it did. It served its purpose.
I thought the drawings made for the book were beautiful and original. And the association between animal/instrument was well done.
Also, I love how he gave information of not only the instrument but the animal as well, and how he also added a small tip of what to listen if you're looking for the instrument.
But I think the execution could have been better. A little more information about each instrument wouldn't have hurt, because it really just said the obvious at sight. And the same for the animals. And a little more structure was also missing. Some information given in some places was missing in others, and I think that with a better organization and polishing, it would have been ok.
And not exactly a flaw, because I understand, but I would have liked to see a tiny bit more of instruments. Just saying.
Nice book overall. I can see myself showing this to kids. But small ones. And then searching for something else. But I think you should buy it for your kids, specially because more music should be taught in general.
Initial Reaction
I liked this book. It shows that it was made for children, because of it simple prose and and condensed information. But it served its purpose and it did good. And I love hat he explained the instrument and the animals, and added a small recommendation to listen to. But I would have liked the author to add a little more information about each instrument. Actually, add a little more information in general, and to be more consistent and organized.
Longer review to come.
This book. I don't even now where to start.
Lets start by this. If you see the progress I've made through all the series, you'll se that I have been constantly annoyed by the presence of Josh. I could find moment where I could stand him, but most times I just wanted to slap him in the face. That said, I didn't even felt a ghost of those feelings through the whole book. My image of him gave such a 180° turn. And that ending was killer. I have to admit, it did surprise me. Even though I had this idea that the death was going to be like part of the twins' family, I really didn't expect him to be Josh.
Also, all this people who died...wow, it was hard, and how all the things resolved after all that mess.
And Isis and Osiris. What the Hell!? That was really not what I expected.
Also, I'm kind of intrigued if the Flamels' lived to see another day, I mean, that's what I got.
I really loved how this whole series turned out to be. Not in a million years was I expecting to read all this, I just wasn't expecting it. I finally feel happy about everything in the story. Because every time I finished one of this books I was always so conflicted about something really important. I do have some thoughts about this book, like for example, of Sophie was something important and what character in history will she be. And then what happened to Virginia and the others. But I'm ok, I think I'll live without knowing.
I recommend this books to everyone. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.
This book...what can't I say about this book.
This books here is definitely my favorite of all the saga (without the last one). It's just the things they say here are just tremendous.
My mom read this book first than I, and while I was reading I found this little lines underlined. They said “The magic, in itself, does not exist. Alone is a term that has been used in excess. There is only your aura ... well, the Chinese have a better word for that: qi. A vital force. An energy. the type of energy that flows within. It can be molded, controlled, directed.” And well, I though, it is true. After all, one of the stuff that this book is trying to teach is that. You are powerful. You have your own energy. You put the boundaries. You control yourself.
And right after I read this I just felt better with myself.
Now, I love the fact that Scatty and company is not totally lost. It's actually great to know that they have a future. With the Flamels...I think I'll never stop fighting about the fact that they're great people and the rest is just treating them wrong. But I have to admit that they did make a big mistake when looking for the twins and stuff. But I forgive them. I though it was very sweet that Perenelle though she couldn't live one day without Nicolas. So cute. About Josh, my feelings have not change a bit. Who am I kidding? I hate him even more. When he was about to tell Dee that he was going with them, I was just about loosing it. But right then when we said I'm coming with you, I felt nothing. No- thing. I was 100% done with him. And I knew that Agnes was more than she showed. I. knew. it. Oh yeah, big shock when Osiris and Iris showed that they were Sophie and Josh parents. What.
But, oh well, I guess I'll have to read the last book. And I can't wait to see John Dee die!! So, awesome. Hopefully it will be slow and painful. Okey, yeah, psycho though coming, bug who cares?
This book is amazing. It is truly a masterpiece by one of the greatest authors ever. George Orwell is a genius and this novels proves it.
One of my favorite things about Kate Morton is the way she tells the story. She goes back and forward between the characters while telling the story. This book, as I expected, was no different.
Without counting, I can tell you this book contains at least 7 plot twist, some of which I wasn't expecting at all, while I was entertained thinking about what might happen, that never did (thanks god).
The book is entertaining, with a good plot, and good characters.
Also, I like books that show a character, and you think you know who he is and how he behaves and then, while the book advances, you realize they're completely different from what you though.
In this books, most of the main characters had that development.
Resuming, this novel is great, I definitely recommend it.
I did it! I was so tired yesterday after finishing reading this that I just went straight to sleep. I didn't even mark it as finished or something. Just threw it and turned the lights off. But enough about me, let's go with the book.
At first, when I first started reading this book, I was really excited about what I had learnt so far. This 15 year old boy named John Wayne Cleaver, who lived in one of those towns lost by God, had all the characteristic of a serial killer, such as showing no empathy for animals, or peeing at night, with the small exception that he did not want to be a serial killer. He had though about, but knew it was wrong. He felt as if there was a monster inside of him, that he had to control.In order to accomplish this task he established a series of very strict rules to avoid having macabre and grim thoughts about what he could do if he let the monster free. He also read about other serial killers (all of them, most likely) to learn about them and their patterns and avoid becoming like them. His family was composed of his mother and his aunt and later on the story, his sister, Lauren (not a spoiler, I promise). His father had long been gone and only received a card and a gift from him on Christmas and occasionally on his birthday. And his family worked in the morgue. Meaning, him, his mother and his aunt received all the corpses of the small town and prepared them to the funeral. Stuff like that.
Up until this point, everything seemed great. The story was really intriguing and I was loving and couldn't stop reading.
Then one day, in the small little town that nothing ever happened in, there was a murder. And a grotesque one. John, finding about it, got really excited, of course, because this was the first time he was so close to murdering. As in, what the monster wanted to do.
I already loved the book by this far. It was amazing. More murders kept happening and they were all so intriguing and strange and there was the small taint of mysterious in it. Until in a small little page, BAAM! The story took a turn I was completely unprepared for and definitely ruined the impression I had about it. It was all so good and perfect and then that small little fact changed everything. What happened was that the killer is a demon. As in a supernatural, clawed and evil demon. I was expecting a real serial killer, not a supernatural one. I had a whole theory about it, and finding out that it was a demon and not real, REAL thing just really overthrew me.
What was my reaction? I stopped reading. Yep. Stopped.
I had already read there was this point where it could define whether you love it or hate it. But I was EXCITED about it, was looking forward to it. Once I read the small thing, my interest for this book dropped and I just couldn't go on.
Days passed and I just left it there, until (yesterday) I made myself finish it. I tried to concentrate on the excitement I had before the small thing, and it kind of worked. I did finish it.
It is actually a really good book. I contains some phrases and metaphors that I just couldn't help but love. I felt like my emotions where described by what he was saying. He nailed it (not that I have murderous thoughts, but if you look at it in another way, it's amazing).
At the end, the book was really good, but the disappointment I felt once I read the small thing was so big that I can't help but give this book a 3.25 rating. But I think once you get over the initial shock, the book is ok.
The character development was incredible, couldn´t have asked for more. The setting was ok, and the sub plot was really deep and amazing. The main plot is the thing that didn't do it for me.
I'm not sure if I can recommend it to somebody, but if you're the type of people who can get over small facts like that one, then...go ahead, read it!
I received this copy in exchange of an honest review, for so, none of my feelings were affected or biased by the author or publisher.
If you'd like to read this review on my blog.
Updated: 12/18/2015
Rating: 2/5 stars.
In tortured life, we hear about the story of Richard, and how his life slowly turned bad by his very special gift. Now, at his lowest point, an even occurs that gives him a new reason to stay alive, and actually, fight to stay alive.
When I was looking for new graphic novels to read in NetGalley (because honestly, they're so easy to read) and I saw this, I was really excited. It sounded like something that I could definitely like. But, something that I've come to realize, is an indicator of a possible bad story, is that the blur doesn't really talk about the plot. It talks about general storyline. When I read this, I wasn't sure of what was coming, but if I had known it was going to turn into this? I would have saved time and just don't read it.
I was expecting some fun, adventurous, filled with paranormal story. Instead, I got an unnecessary story, with unnecessary fillings and one hell of a weird out come. I swear, if I had read the final part with the first half, I wouldn't have guessed it was the same.
The story of Richard having a gift to see how people die sounded awesome, Sad for him, but awesome for me to read. But that wasn't it. There was also a weird plot about a weird ghost-avenger who wanted to kill him just because. And then the ending. The ghost was himself? And he was a clone? Of a guy who had a twin? Or was it the twin the ghost? Or was it the combination of both? All the same, the ending felt really rushed, and it felt like it hadn't been planned out at all, but rather a spur-of-the-moment kind of word-vomit. It was all over the place, and I'm not sure it made complete sense.
Also, it was really grotesque. But like, really, unnecessary grotesque. It had people's brains and guts flying all over the place, and blood pouring out of the paper. And it was like the author knew his story wasn't that good and decided to stick all that blood so that people would stay. Don't get me wrong, I normally don't complain about that. The realest the better. And when I started reading this, I felt it might be that way. But then it just got ridiculous.
The art style wasn't exactly pretty, and at times I wasn't sure of what the surroundings really where. Other than that, it was an enjoyable piece of work, without the guts.
Even thought all this, I did enjoy some of this. It wasn't a complete and total disaster. It was fast paced, at least the first part, and kind of gripping.
I don't think you should waste much time with this. And not everyone likes all this gross blood gutsy. Nah, I've wasted time.
Initial Reaction
Meh, I didn't like this. It had a good premise, and I only expected it to be adventurous and fun. But it had a really poor execution and nothing really happened. Also, it was confusing and had really grotesque scenes everywhere, that just became unnecessary.
Proper reviews in the morrow.
Lo leí a recomendación de una amiga y por curiosidad. Era corto y era sobre un crimen de mi país, por lo que interes había.
En general, la estructura del libro era extraña. Saltaba mucho entre sucesos y se volvia confuso. Estaban los 6 capitulos, que ella separó en diferentes puntos de la historia, pero los primeros tres eran lo mismo, era muy revuelto.
Sobre la historia, no queda nada más que decir que que asco vivir en un país en donde se idolatren y se tengan a personajes como éste en el más alto pedestal. Que toda nuestra política actual esté relacionada con personajes asi, que caía en contradicciones con su ideología, demuestra lo mal que está. A la vez, todas aquellas personas que pudieron decir algo y no lo dijeron también tienen condena aqui. Y no me refiero a las victimas, me refiero es al conserje, secretario, los farmaceutas. Los que no tenían que ver directamente, pero que pudieron haber detenido a esta farsa de hombre.
En general, me gustó el libro, pudo haber sido estructurado mejor, pero da un buen visto central y objetivo de la historia, en donde deja que hable por si sola.
Not really a fan. Regular story, nothing remarkable or worth mentioning. Maybe as a play it would have been better. But I only read it in book format.
WOW, HAD I FORGOTTEN THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD! I mean, I was at the edge of my seat even though I knew what was happening. Definitely my one of my favorite books of this series. Amazing.
This was a good story! I really liked the setting and the world building. I would love to see more of Alex Stern and the Houses.
Unfortunately, it did have some problems. For starters, the writing, specially in the beginning, is filled with references and information that made it hard to read. My mind kept wandering and I had to reread a few passages. But also, towards the end, when we’re supposed to be having this high stakes situation, it didn’t really feel like that and ended up being a bit of a let down. I also didn’t like how it all conveniently just “rich people will keep it down” their problems away.
The story is still pretty good. The dark setting was nice and consistent throughout. And the mystery was pretty decent, as well.
Rating: 4 / 5 starsShort review: Dark, gritty and full of awesomeness. Initially, though, very confusing.
I've wanted to read this graphic novel for a long while. Thankfully, it was available on Kindle Unlimited, and I did not hesitate to make it my first KU read. And I'm glad I did.
Essentially, this graphic is just really awesome. A great, dark and mysterious main character, in a dark, cool setting, involving dreams and all these mysterious and mythological themes. Really, it's just my cup of tea. Add a few superheroes references with a dash of crossover, and it's even better.
And that's without mentioning the amazing art style brought into the story, with a lot of colors and dynamic panels that really brought a different tone to each character and each setting, making the experience very complete.
My one problem, though, was how confusing the initial part of the volume is. After all, Gaiman drops us in the story without any warning or acknowledgment, and halfway through I still found myself wondering what certain panels meant and what exactly was going on. He didn't really explain anything about the story and, instead, just started telling it, which meant that I had to constantly catch up and wonder what the purpose of each event and character was. This, nonetheless, is only prominent in the first issues of the volume, and didn't bother me much by the end of it.
Another thing that felt out of place was the whole sequence with Morpheus's sister, Death. That is, the story had already finished, and it felt, initially, like something else was starting. I definitely liked the character and the development to the MC that it brought, but it felt a bit detached from the overall story.
In general, it was a really great read, and I'm excited to continue reading the next issues to and see what's in store for our MC. I'm still hesitant if I will read all 10 volumes, but, for now, I'll definitely continue.
Update: 09/04/2015
If you'd like to read this review on my blog.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars.
A Clash of Kings is the second novel of the A Song Of Ice and Fire series, that follows right where we left off in Game of Thrones. In this book, we finally see what those terrible Games that we so heard talking are about, and all of the characters are in a difficult situation, with terrible things happening around, but it all just starts...
Great book, really. So much things happened, so much went down, and so much is coming. This was just mind blowing.
I have to say, this book was so long. At first, when I read those first few chapters, I thought I was for sure never going to finish this in the near-almost-far future. There was just so much information dump in those first 200 pages, and not much things happening really. It took me a while to get used to it, and to actually start to fill the excitement.
But once I went through those, God did it get good. The book gave so much character development to every character. I'm finally redefining who is to trust, who is a btch, who is not as bad as one initially thinks. And yet he didn't give us as much as to know everything. I still doubt every single character. Because they change so easily. Everybody lies, everybody keeps secrets, everybody dies and everybody learns to survive by playing the Game of Thrones. It's so intense, but so good.One of the best improvements was my views of Tyrion Lannister. He is such a cute, smartsy pants, intelligent and kind motherfcker. Might have a tiny crush for a tiny man. I think that he's probably one of the smartest characters in this book (not the most clever, that could be discussed) and he's also really thinking like a real king. He should be king. But at the same time, he's not really apt to be king of such a violent and war ridden town. So the Hand's King fits him. And I swear, every single conversation he had with Cersei, was the best part of this book. I've wasted every single flicky tap (still don't know it's name) marking all of the whimsical and witty conversations they've had. I love their relationship (even thought it's the worst sister-brother relationship.) I will show you some of the quotes I've marked of them, and some of Tyrion talking around, but maybe they could be a little spoilery, so it'll be under a spoiler mark. View to your own danger.
In a conversation with Joffrey... The dwarf smiled crookedly. "All sorts of people are calling themselves kings these days."In a conversation with Cersei... "I'm sure I don't know. That fool Eddard Stark accused me of the same thing. He hinted that Lord Arryn suspected or...well believed...""That you were fucking our sweet Jaime?"She slapped him."Did you think I was as blind as father?" Tyrion rubbed his cheek. "Who you lie with is no matter to me...although it doesn't seem quite just that you should open your legs for one brother and not the other"She slapped him."Be gentle, Cersei, I'm only jesting with you. If truth be told, I'd sooner have a nice whore. I never understood what Jaime saw in you, apart from his own reflection."She slapped him.Another conversation with Cersei... "I will not suffer to be called a whore!"Why, sister, he never claims Jaime paid you.And another... "What a disgusting little worm you are. Myrcella is my only daughter. Did you truly imagine that I would allow you to sell her like a bag of oats?"Myrcella, he thought. Well, that egg has hatched. Let's see what color the chick is. "Hardly a bag of oats. Myrcella is a princess. Some would say this is what she was born for. Or did you plan to marry her to Tommen?"And adrenaline driven Tyrion... "You won't hear me shout out Joffrey's name," he told them. "You won't hear me yell for Casterly Rock either. This is your city Stannis means to sack, and that's your gate he's bringing down. So come with me and kill the son of a b*tch!"
Oh, Tyrion <3
Moving on, I thought that chapter PoVs like Arya's were very enjoyable. She's doing some really extreme moves, and her life's kind of miserable right now, but I love her.
Also, Sansa no longer annoys me as massively as she used to. I'm still kind of bitter of her, but it's slowly fading. And I feel kind of sorry for her, at times. She's a nice girl, and she's finally growing up.
But then there were chapters like Davos, and Theon, that honestly bored me to death. Davos more than Theon. Like, Davos is to much of a suck up for me, and he never says anything interesting. And Theon is too stupid and blind and egocentric for my taste. When is Joffrey and his head-cutting when you need it?
Then there were Bran and Caitlyn chapters. Those were the ones that could be boring at points, but then really interesting, and then back to boring, and then exciting. Those were ok, I guess.
And my love, my dear love, Daenerys. God she's so lost. I hate that. I want her to stop being so misguided, and for her to step up her game. And even thought that, I loved every single of her chapters. I always do. She's such a great character, and I root for her like crazy. And yes, I believe she's the real queen. Because Dragons. That by the way, DRAGONS. But the things that bothers me most, is that her chapters are so damn apart. #TheStruggle
John Snow chapters were a little bit annoying at times, because of all this wall walking and warnings that we've heard before. But for the rest, they were very interesting. But at the same time I think that a little bit more could have happened, excluding the ending, of course.
Another new character, Melisandre. I'm so fcking terrified of that btch. Like, no, no, NO.
As for what plot concerns, that was intense. In A Game of Thrones nothing had really happened,it was just starting. And in this book, things started happening. But the amazing thing is that I know it's only the beginning. I can feel so many things coming. I do have to say, all the misery and despair found in this book was hard. Man, I love this series.
And lastly, small spoiler section.
Man was I scared when Theon was lying about Brann and Rickon's death. And not because I thought it was true, but because I thought that my beliefs of it being fake weren't true. Like what happened when Eddard Stark died in the last book (In case you don't know, since the moment he was killed till the end of the book, a good 100+ pages, I thought he was still alive.) I knew it wasn't true, I mean, not enough proof for me. But there was this small tiny doubt.Funny moment. When Sansa finds out she got her first period. In that moment, I swear we were all Sansa Stark.John Snow and the wildlings. The f*cking f*ck.Melisandre and her dark magic stuff. The f*cking f*ck.And that whole strange connection with the wolfs and the Stark kids was amazing. But now it just made me feel worse that Lady is no longer alive. And for like the whole length of the book, I was expecting that somewhere along the way Arya was going to have her reunion with Nymeria. But no, never. ;-; And I'm so mad that Arya never killed Tywin. But yeah, I knew that wasn't happening. And her ending was just crazy. I really really want her and Caitlyn to get together.And also, the battle of Casterly Rock was bad ass. I loved it, so many things happened, and all those characters, and that ending. My dear Tyrion Lannister is not dying, he's going to stand up and rule up all of your asses.Lastly, that scene where Daenerys enters that weird ass palace. That was even better! All those prophecies they showed her, all the things to come. And how she destroyed those b*tches up with dragons. God I love Daenerys.
This book had such great endings for every character. A bunch of crazy stuff happened, and everything gave a complete 360 degrees turn. I have this saying that I love...
“If things aren't going great, then don't worry, it won't last. And if things are going great, be aware, it won't last.”
Update: 02/16/2015
If you'd like to read this review on my blog.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars.
Graceling is the story of Lady Katsa, a girl who is graced with the power of killing. She has been trained all her life, and used by her uncle, king Randa, to do all of his errands, torturing and killing people. And then she meets Po, who is graced with the power of fighting. Together, they'll search for the answer to Grandfather Telif's capture, and find a few mysteries of their own.
I've wanted to read this book for a while. More than a year and a half, I'd dare to say. But somewhere along the way I heard this tiny bitty bad review about it. I can't even remember who was it from or what exactly did it say, but I remember it discouraging me from reading it.
Enter present world, where I find myself with new friends and companionship (book related) and they happen to mention their love for this book. Reason why we're here. I read it. And I regret really hard not reading it before.
The writing is one of the things that did it for me. It was a special kind of writing due to it being more 1600's, to say a year. And I've heard a lot of people complain about it not being good, but I'm not a native English speaker, and for what I saw, I think that she wrote what was best.
Then we have Katsa. I don't necessarily love her as my favorite character. She's super bad ass and hilariously dense. But she's very robotic, issue acknowledged as part of her Grace, which is fine for me and this makes me not feel her as much. And there's also the “I don't want kids, not getting married cause freedom” thing. In my case, I related her intensity towards that problem due to the era in which she finds herself. I mean, if someone was like that in this century, or the past one, or even the one before, I wouldn't have bought her. Because it would have been fake and very unnecessary to dig so much into it. But Katsa is kind of in an older time (or at least that's my perception) and I think it's not that exaggerate. Of course, it did bother me, for her to be so surly. But I get it.
I found the idea of Graces and their relation to the eye color to be such an original idea and very cool. Very well thought and executed. And all this Grandfather Tealif being captured and who is the one who ordered it. That's just plain awesome. One thing I didn't really like, which is very characteristic of series, is that not everything is revealed. And I wouldn't mind it that much if it wasn't because they really didn't say anything. There are so many things mentioned but not explained that it feels like the the author forgot about this things. But I guess I'll have to read the other two. on my way
But the thing that really bothered me about this book is how anticlimactic is was. It built up so much things and there was so much potential, and it all ended in this...nonsense. It really blew it for me. But the book in itseld was so amazing and interesting and full of awesomeness all over that I gave it 4.5.
AND OMG PO. Cutest thing ever. I'm in love completely. He's A+ perfect. And that ending Po being blind was perfect. Really sad but it was meant to be. The only thing I didn't like about it, is that you could see it coming miles away. But oh well.
You should definitely read this if you haven't. You won't loose your time and you'll end up so delighted.
—————————————————————-
Amazing, amazing book. Can't believe it's over an in such a bittersweet note (more sweet than bitter to me) but I'm not really mad at it, I feel like it was fair. Really great story and the characters are amazingly done. Really really loved this book. I'm glad I finally decided to read it. Review to come.
Rating: 5 / 5 starsShort review: unconventionally and irrevocably, a horror story.
Quiet an easy and fast read; just a few minutes and you're done with this story. But it's been a few hours, and I'm still really sad.
A terrifying tale in its own way, with no apparent monsters or ghosts, but rather ourselves. Ourselves, and our capability to do wrong to others, even with our best intentions, and our mind's capability to do us harm.
I'll leave with you with a couple of highlights, that really just broke my heart.
John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.
-
I tried to have a real earnest, reasonable talk with him the other day, and tell him how I wished he would let me go and make a visit to cousin Henry and Julia. But he said I wasn't able to go, nor able to stand it after I got there; and I did not make out a very good case for myself, for I was crying before I had finished.
Very important book. Please read.
And most definitely, a proper and very extensive rant review of this book.
I received this copy in exchange of an honest review, for so, none of my feelings were affected or biased by the author or publisher.
Update: 11/14/2015
If you'd like to read this review on my blog.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars.
Jem and the Holograms is a story of dreams, finding your true self and having fun along the way! We meet our four heroins, who are just about to make their dreams of becoming super stars true, if only Jerrica could bring herself to sing. But just as they were loosing hope, they find a strange machine, that might help them in unexpected ways.
Man, this book was so much fun!
Ok, confesion time has arrived...I've never seen the TV show this is based on and only found out about it thanks to this!..
I know, most people loved this show when little and think that this graphic novel is such a waste of times because the show was so much better and this isn't adding anything new... but I'm new to this, so this is my side of the story.
First of all, the illustrations were soooo prettyyyy and colorful! This is the brightest palete of colors I've seen in a graphic novel. And I loved it. All the hair and costumes and colors and music tunes got me completely hooked and hallucinating!
The story itself was really light, nothing deep, really fun things happening all around. I really didn't even bother to see the not so well done things happening around (except the “ok cool, a machine that it's better than the world, all good” thing) because the story was really fun and I couldn't take it too seriously.
I loved that it had so much diversity in such a simple way. And that there literally was no conflict about any of it.
This novel felt like a 90's show. And I know it's kind of dumb to point that out, but it really felt like those old shows I used to watch when I was little. Except that social media was all over the place.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this novel, really recommend, read it, even if you watched the TV show when little. Good all the same.
Initial Reaction
THAT WAS SO FUN! I WANT MORE! I absolutely adore this story, it's so funny and cute, and the art style has me seeing stars! I want to read the reeeeeest...
Proper review to come.
I received this copy in exchange of an honest review, for so, none of my feelings were affected or biased by the author or publisher.
Update: 01/05/2015
If you'd like to read this review on my blog.
Rating: 2./5 stars.
Shattered Blue is the story of Noah, a sixteen-year-old girl who befriends a new student in her boarding school, Callum. But things are not exactly what they seem, as a strange feeling sinks in whenever Callum is around. Soon enough, things start getting interesting and even dangerous, threatening the relationship between them.
Disclaimer, I have tried to do this review multiple times in the past, but haven't been able to complete or publish it because of multiple problems while at it. After getting over my anger, I am now trying again and (hopefully) succeeding.
Shattered Blue was weird. It tried to be so many things, or rather, it tried not to be so many things. I could see that the author wanted to avoid a lot of cliches and pet peeves of the Young Adult Paranormal genre. She was very aware of them and tried to avoid it at all cost. But in reality, she ended up creating many other problems and even creating the same problems she was trying to avoid in the first place.
Let me explain.
She most profoundly tried to avoid the instant-love kind of setting and show it isn't a real, healthy relationship. But while trying to avoid it, she created another even more annoying instant-love kind of setting, one where the girl falls for the very troubled boy, and even worse, the brother.
She also tried to do an interesting plot that was simple enough, but really, it was lacking and also not original at all. And she did something that incredibly annoyed me, that is, hiding things from the reader. Alright, like, normally that's good. But she literally loaded all of the secrets in one character alone, and that sole character revealed those secrets in the worst kind of way. Like, firstly, the secrets were incredibly obvious and unsurprising, and secondly, the attitude didn't really fit in with what was happening. It all felt kind of uncomfortable and weird. Specially that scene where he tells them about the little girl's real identity. It made me cringe.
The characters... I'm not sure. Noah was alright, I guess, but she, at the end, became more of the dumb characters that we all hate in paranormal. I did like her poems, but I never really understood them. I don't know, they felt kind of unnecessary as well.
Callum was meh. All those secrets kind of put me down on liking him. And I'm so done with the “I want you, can't have you” struggle. Really, we are all done with it. And I hated how he changed so much through the book just so we could add the love triangle (hate that as well) with Callum's brother (can't remember his name).
And talking about that brother, he was a most contradictory character. At first renegade and violent, then just romantic, then violent, then super whinny. Definitely didn't like his character. And again, hate what the author did to Callum's image in order to get the brother in the picture.
I really believe that this novel has too many secrets, bad done secrets, to be all that enjoyable. Some for shadowing and a little more coherence would have helped.
And, this is more a personal thing, I completely guessed the whole plot. All of it. The sister being not her sister, the white fae thing... am I getting good or are they lowering their skills?
And the final, most important thing that annoyed me throughout the whole book, is that this is literally Twilight. Everything about it screams Twilight at me. It feels like what the author wished had happened on Twilight. But with fae. Literally. Twilight. The world don't need no mo'.
I did give those 2 stars because it did entertain me through it all, and there was some kind of originality in it. The other sister, everything that had to do about her, I liked. Actually, a book that was solely about Noah trying to figure her life after her sister's dead, and her mom and dad, etc. That, I would have enjoyed way more.
Initial Reaction
That was confusing. I mean, I think some people would like this book, but I'm just not there anymore. Too much teenage angst for me. And some things weren't written in exactly the best way. I don't know.
Proper review to come.
I received this copy in exchange of an honest review, for so, none of my feelings were affected or biased by the author or publisher.
Update: 01/09/2015
If you'd like to read this review on my blog.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars.
The Fox is not your typical story. And it's not really a story. It's more than that. The Fox is about life. The Fox is about family. The Fox is about survival. The Fox is the story that you'll love, without too much complication. In the point of view of wild life, we see all this and more.
Have I ever told you how wonderful foxes are? Actually, animals in general? They now everything and everyone, don't over complicate themselves, and have their priorities straight. They don't follow the rules of time and they have the biggest and truest capability to love.
For me, this novel was just that. Animals in their truest form. No story, no background or intricate plot needed. Just the true.
And the design in the drawing was insane. So beautiful and detailed. And not only the characters but the ambient. It all had so many details and was so carefully crafted. Not some random scrambles likes some of today's graphic novels.
Read it. Seriously. It is necessary. (not really but pretty please)
Initial Reaction
The only reason I read this, was because it was about a Fox, and foxes are my favorite animals. And I'm hella glad I did. The art was gorgeous, loved it. Perfect. Real story, straight to the point. Love it. Please read it.
Proper review to come, thought it will be short.
I received this copy in exchange of an honest review, for so, none of my feelings were affected or biased by the author or publisher.
Update: 01/09/2015
If you'd like to read this review on my blog.
Rating: 2.5/5 stars.
Ashes is the story of Matt, that while living a wonderful successful life, falls in hard times, and the story that follows, while trying to get his life back. Ashes gives a voice to those unnamed heroes that fight for our lives daily, and that not always win. This is what happens after one of those such days.
I loved that this novel centered around fire fighters. I think that they're underestimated most of the time. We don't give them enough credit, really. They put themselves at risk to save our lives. And sincerely, we don't do our best to help.
This is where Matt's story falls in. He suffered a horrific faith that doesn't fall anywhere near just, but there all the same. It was wonderful to see him overcome his anger and sadness over loosing it all, and manage to see beyond it and see all the people that loved him.
I think it's an important book for both the firefighters, because it brings awareness towards them, and people, because it shows that motivation, dedication, hard work and time can do wonders.
The only thing is that it wasn't the most interesting things to read. It read pretty bland and it lacked the suspense and drama. It needed a little more narrative.
And I wasn't a fan of the art design. All that black was sometimes hard to outline. And it didn't help with the overall presentation of the book. Like, if you're going to do it in b&w, at least let me see it.
Great book, you should read it, even if for the sake of knowing about the firefighters cause.
Initial Reaction
This novel was ok, but the way it was told felt kind of chopped. And like a lot of books, it missed some important parts of a character's personalities. But it was good and interesting. Also, I didn't like the art style.
Proper review to come.
I received this copy in exchange of an honest review, for so, none of my feelings were affected or biased by the author or publisher.
Update: 11/13/2015
If you'd like to read this review on my blog.
Rating: 4.25/5 stars.
In a world, or rather, in the space, where everything is gone, Robot boy TIM-21 finds himself alone in a story that will reach your soul. In descender, he and a couple of space friends will go on incredible adventures, searching for the true and maybe some more...
I love when a story is so amazing, that you are left thinking about it for days, weeks after it, and still are amazed by it. It's not just something you can read and then blow off, the story forces you to think about it, to keep it within you.
Descender was such an amazing story! You start off by nothing, plain death and disaster. And you don't know the why's, the who's, and what happened before or after. It's all just confusion. But as you read more, you go figuring out more about what's happening, who is who, what happened before and what the future holds. I can't tell you enough, this story is amazing.
Once all the back story started to come through, you could tell this was no ordinary story. And already the beginning was strange enough, to hold you deep within the story.
The plot in general was super interesting. You get robots, space, aliens, androids. All you can imagine. And you get societies that go beyond what you can expect.
Also, the main characters were amazing. Tim the robot is such an adorable little boy, and so is the other robot. And then there's the professor...leave it at that.
What I do lament is that this first issue was so short! I'm left wanting so much more answers.
The one reason I gave it a 4.25, though, is that the story isn't really new...I mean, the characters personalities and roles were pretty typical within the context. And so was the story, a little. But only 0.75. It still is extremely good!
Initial Reaction
WHAT?!?! That was insaneee! I absolutely adored this graphic novel! All this things happening all around, and all the secrets and things unknown! I neeed more. Every one should read this! It's amazing. Need more, definitely.
Proper and coherent (maybe) review to come.
Quite the interesting story of this revolutionary woman, Rosa Luxemburg. But I felt like the author should have found a better balance between the story and the historical facts and the fun commentaries. And even thought I don't agree with the communist or socialist ideology, I think that most of the ideas in here were explained in a way that made sense.