Ismerene
I really enjoyed this book. The writing was, as many other reviews have stated, down-to-Earth and felt conversational. During some moments, however, I was almost afraid to turn the page! That is evidence of damn good writing. The reason I docked it to four stars (I wish we could give half star ratings!) was the extreme amount of Catholicism. Obviously, the title gives that aspect away, but I found it to be a bit tedious. However, I know that the faith aspect of [b:Holy Ghosts 8857743 Holy Ghosts Gary Jansen http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1281670122s/8857743.jpg 13732968] will appeal to those who carry those values.
I loved this book, and this is why.-The romance was not weird or unequal. It felt real and genuine to me, and in light of all the creepy, unrealistic YA novel romances, it was a blessing to see one that wasn't creepy or forced but was realistic. I also was happy to see how it was briefly discussed that looks did not come into play when it came to what made Tris attractive. We, as a culture, are in desperate need of this type of message.-The main female protagonist was strong, and smart. She wasn't TSTL, or too busy flailing all over one guy to focus on herself. Her world did not revolve around a romantic relationship. I saw her grow, and while her initial infatuation was evident, it did not overwhelm her growth; it was more like a nice complement. -The dystopian part of [b:Divergent 8306857 Divergent (Divergent, #1) Veronica Roth https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327873996s/8306857.jpg 13155899] was not cheesy. Some novels have a great premise, but weak execution; the background for [b:Divergent 8306857 Divergent (Divergent, #1) Veronica Roth https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327873996s/8306857.jpg 13155899] sounded hokey in the synopsis, but was well-written. Written from someone who is young in the writing world, this gives me hope that it may change the face of what healthy relationships and self-esteem should look like. I truly enjoyed reading {book: Divergent] and I can't wait for the next installment!
I'll admit, I went into this book with low expectations, having read all the reviews, negative and otherwise. That being said, I got about 3/4ths of the way through this book before I had to put it down for my sanity.The two stars I did rate it were purely the idea and writing style, not the execution.[b:Wither 8525590 Wither (The Chemical Garden, #1) Lauren DeStefano http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311109085s/8525590.jpg 13392566] sets you up pretty early in the book. Maybe its a personal preference, but I like bits and pieces being revealed, not info dumps towards the beginning. However, what really stood out to me was the ethnocentrism in this book, as other reviewers have pointed out. “All we were taught of geography was that the world had once been made up of seven continents and several countries, but a third world war demolished all but North America, the continent with the most advanced technology. The damage was so catastrophic that all that remains of the rest of the world is ocean and uninhabitable islands so tiny that they can???t even be seen from space.”Unless I missed any other ethnicity being mentioned, (this book got really hard to get through.) all I could recall was every character in this book was Caucasian. It reinforced this “AMERICA IS THE BEST!” mentality I didn't particularly care for. Did the USA have a shiny invisi-shield that protected it from the horrid destruction that the other countries somehow missed? This attitude is unfortunately prevalent nowadays and I don't like reading it in YA fiction. Some of the logic also made no sense to me. Since the women live to be twenty, and the men twenty-five, why are women still treated poorly? They are dying out faster than men, there would exist a huge gender discrepancy.It was hard getting through what I got through. Much of the writing in the middle and towards the end became very repetitive; whether or not [a:Lauren DeStefano 4103366 Lauren DeStefano http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1305725851p2/4103366.jpg] created this to illustrate the nature of her captivity is unknown to me. However, her idea for this dystopian novel was a great one, and had it been created with a little more research, a lot more logic and without the ethnocentrism, it could be wonderful. Her writing style is excellent, and I definitely enjoyed how she wrote (just not what she wrote!)
I really enjoyed this book. It was an instance of, “I need to stay up to see what happens!” situation, which in light of the recent book “swamps” I've been (voluntarily) wading through (I'm looking at you [b:Wither 8525590 Wither (The Chemical Garden, #1) Lauren DeStefano http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311109085s/8525590.jpg 13392566] and especially you, [b:Halo 7778981 Halo (Halo, #1) Alexandra Adornetto http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1278885735s/7778981.jpg 10695325]) [b:Maze Runner 6186357 The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1) James Dashner http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320500235s/6186357.jpg 6366642] was a completely refreshing change.I loved that not all the information was dumped at the beginning, that we were still finding out new things near the end. I did not like how we were subjected to constant mood swings; while it was great for illustrating Thomas' anger, I grew a bit weary of “I was quiet, wanting to be alone. Suddenly, a wave of fury overcame me. I looked for food, I was suddenly ravenous.” all in one paragraph. I also did not like Teresa. I felt her presence was wholly unnecessary, and felt the story could have moved without her there. Overall, I really enjoyed [b:Maze Runner 6186357 The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1) James Dashner http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320500235s/6186357.jpg 6366642] and I will definitely be pursuing the others in this series!
I was very excited for this book! Its the final book in one of my favorite series, and I was ecstatic that I got to finally read it!
The fighting scenes were a bit tough to get through at times (its the same rigamarole as in Brisingr - we are shown every minute detail of how exactly that soldier's facial bones were snapped, it got to be a bit much to read through.) I felt that overall, how things were handled was excellent....
...until I got to the end.
THERE BE SPOILERS HERE, ARRRGGHHH
First off, Arya becoming a Rider was hella predictable. We all saw that coming.
What was not predictable-
1. The absolute lack of resolution between Arya and Eragon. Yes, omg, they held haaaaands! But it seemed like once Arya reached a certain level of character development, she stopped. She remained the barely likeable character that I experienced in Eldest. Even after all the growing Eragon does (and it shows in Inheritance.) she is still aloof and unlikable.
So I thought to myself, “Well, now that Eragon has matured, maybe she'll give him the time of day and we can stop hearing about her beautiful hair or graceful fighting style.” Nope. Total cockblock.
The Wiki entry states that “Eragon and Arya recognise their true feelings for each other.” Not really. I barely saw anything, except her telling him her true name and them holding hands. Nothing else. It was a HUGE letdown. Its like I followed a rainbow all the way down to... nothing. Paolini could have worked this a bit better, and don't tell me he's incapable of going back to Alagaesia or Arya is incapable of going with. The whole thing was so contrived.
2. The ending, where he sails off into the distance. This is a blatant ripoff of Return of the King's ending, only Tolkien did it better because he wrapped shit up first.
3. The hell with Murtagh and Nasuada? Apparently Paolini has been mastering the beginning of storylines and then tossing them off into the distance, because this shit wasn't wrapped up either.
Overall, a great book, however I felt that all the minor storylines I invested so hard in (Eragon and Arya) were quickly wrapped with barely any resolution, if any. Paolini discussed in the end about returning to Alagaesia, though not with the same characters. Hopefully we can glean some more type of closure, ie Eragon finds a partner, because Jesus he certainly deserves one!
Alas, another one bites the dust.
I strongly dislike DNFing this at the low percentage I did (6%, 23 pages in) but the hook just wasn't there. The opening was fantastic (placed us right in the middle of a murder) but everything afterward was exposition - I don't quite care about the unique area of study the main character is working with, except for how it directly relates to the story. After I turned a new chapter and found we were being placed with more exposition (something about the natural order of nature, or how the systems work, I don't quite recall) I closed the book and moved on.
It pains me to put down this novel, as the synopsis and opening has incredible promise. However, I just simply don't have the drive to continue due to numerous issues, and I will tell you why. Where [b:Sleeping Giants 25733990 Sleeping Giants (Themis Files, #1) Sylvain Neuvel https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1459785141s/25733990.jpg 42721200] struggles is in two things - characterization and infodumps. Each interview didn't feel like an interview - it felt like a exposition, like I'm being talked at rather than with. The flow of conversation was unrealistic, and the characters themselves are flat, with little to distinguish between them. For example, we are told (several times, in fact, sound familiar?) that one particular character is “combative” and has “a problem with authority”. In the next interview, she's making friends all over the facility and chumming it up with the interviewer/narrator. In yet another interview, she's torn up to pieces about an incident that occurs. No consistency. She felt labeled, as they all do, with one-hundred percent telling and absolutely zero showing.The narrator/interviewer is, for lack of a better term, annoying. At times, they speak more than the interviewees, which completely negates the entire point of interview-based storytelling. I think the interviewer's identity is a mystery to be solved in [b:Waking Gods 30134847 Waking Gods (Themis Files, #2) Sylvain Neuvel https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462736382s/30134847.jpg 50566357] and [b:Only Human 35820656 Only Human (Themis Files, #3) Sylvain Neuvel https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1502999023s/35820656.jpg 57322413], but the aggressive flexing, the excessive talking... Quite frankly, I don't care who it is, only that he/she needs to chill.I eventually gave up around p82, when discussion over the discoveries is glossed over and described without any real life credibility - they're discussing (or rather infodumping) a massive discovery, and it's like the character is talking about a car or a blender. I skipped forward, and found it only got worse. The ending seemed really good, but it wasn't enough for me to trudge through 238 more pages.No stars as I didn't finish, but I unofficially give a 2 star rating to [b:Sleeping Giants 25733990 Sleeping Giants (Themis Files, #1) Sylvain Neuvel https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1459785141s/25733990.jpg 42721200] based on what I did read. Someday I may pick this book back up, as the sequels are well rated - but for now, I will have to DNF it. I am quite disappointed.