Dina
Holy shit. “Feel all the feels” you say? Well, right you were, internet!
My full review can be found at SFF Book Review
I don't think I can muster up enough strength and coherence to write a short review here. The only reason I could see for anybody not liking this book is if they don't like good books. Or fairy tales. Or wonderful characters, the real world interwoven with mythology, symbols all over the place, so many quote-worthy sentences that could make you weep... Just read it, okay?
Full review at SFF Book Review.This is considered a classic for good reason.Long as it may have taken me to finally pick up this book, it has lived up to every bit of hype I had heard before. I have been very fed up with what is sold as “dystopias” lately, especially in the YA genre, and I needed something with the same power as George Orwell's [b:1984 5470 1984 George Orwell http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348990566s/5470.jpg 153313]. Now this is a very different book in subject, but the tone is just as horrifying, the world as full of terror - and that's how it should be.It is strange to say that I enjoyed cuddling up with this book, under a nice blanket and with a cup of tea by my side. Because this is not exactly a comfort read. It shocks and terrifies and, above all, makes you think. As my first Atwood, I am duly impressed and will read many more of her books.Highly recommended.8,5/10
Full review at SFF Book Review
Who would have thought this book would break my heart?
Not expecting very much, mostly looking forward to the illustrations, I started reading what seemed to be a predictable tale of a young boy and his cancer-stricken mother. Who gets visits by a monster. While this is how it starts out, the story grew - and on very few pages - to something much bigger and more touching. I found myself caring about Conor and wanting his mother to get better.
I found I liked the monster and Conor's no-longer-friend Lily. I even managed to care about the grandmother and the absentee father. A book, small as it may be, peopled with so many great characters already is an easy win for me.
But there is also a story to be discovered. I will keep this rather vague because discovering the truth - and throwing away all your wrong guesses in between - is a large part of the fun of this book. If you can call it fun. I read this calmly for the most part, only to become fully and shockingly emotional towards the end. I am a book cryer but usually I see these moments coming. Not here. I didn't know I was suddenly going to care so much. And while I predicted part of the ending, it was the details that made it perfect.
Highly recommended. All young adult books should be written this well and have a message this hopeful.
Full review at SFF Book Review.
I have a love-hate-relationship with this novel. I adored the style, I found the story just eccentric and romantic enough and I cared deeply about the side characters. I just couldn't manage to like Cassandra, the protagonist and narrator. She always felt too distant and a bit arrogant to me. Watching all the others, observing their ways and (at least I thought) considering herself a cut above the company.
I do recommend this book though. It shows the craziness that is coming-of-age perfectly and offers some beautiful writing at the same time. 6,5/10 stars
An enduringly enchanting tale that offers more than the (beautiful) movie. I recommend movie, music, book and graphic novel alike. This tale is as immortal as the unicorn herself. Full review at: http://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/peter-s-beagle-the-last-unicorn/
The second half of the collection wasn't as good as the first but overall, this was a very good collection.
Emily Breakfast totally stole my heart. :)
Full review hiding behind this link
Reviewsmith....
Don't make me decide which one is my favorite Tiffany Aching novel. I can't help but love them all but Wintersmith clearly takes a more melancholy tone than its predecessor, with Tiffany thinking about life, love, death, and everything in between.
There is wonderful humor in this story but there are also hard decisions and young girls who have to clean up the mess they made. Tiffany tackles her problems head-on and takes responsibility for her mistake. Which, in this case, was dancing with the Wintersmith...
Wonderful, charming, delightful! Full review: http://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/susanna-clarke-jonathan-strange-mr-norrell/
Full review can be found at the SFF Book Review
Dr. John Watson has just returned from his work as a war surgeon in Afghanistan and is looking for somebody to share a flat with him. He is introduced to Sherlock Holmes, the only existing consulting detective in the world – and his theory of deduction. Soon Watson learns that it is more than a theroy as he watches Holmes figure out the details of a murder case. A dead man is found on the floor of an empty apartment, the only (to us ordinary people) clue is the German word RACHE written on the wall in blood.
I was surprised at how readable this book was. Maybe I underestimate my own ability to read English but then I did read my first Sherlock Holmes when I was about 19 years old. Either way, the language has a nice flow to it and I finished this small adventure in about two hours. The unravelling of the case was done quickly, even for Holmes' standards, but the second half of the book shows us the murderer's backstory. We turn from dialogue-heavy banter between Holmes and the police force to a tale that makes us look at the murderer in a different way and shows us his true motive.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle managed to pack a fair bit of criticism into his detective story and that also took me by surprise. I will definitely read all the other Sherlock Holmes stories (even though I'm worried I might deduct the outcome from my having seen the TV show) and I'll probably reread The Hound of Baskervilles as well. Holmes is a likable, if very cocky, hero (don't tell him I called him that) and while his knowledge in certain fields is almost unbelievable, I will gladly suspend my desbelief for the sake of a good story.
I recommend these books for anyone who – like me, a number of years ago – is daunted by the idea of “reading the classics”. This quick read doesn't only show the beginnings of Holmes and Watson's beautiful friendship but it offers a fun detective story and a surprisingly intriguing background to our murderer.
THE GOOD: Easy to read, great characters, a lot of depth that I was surprised to find on so few pages.
THE BAD: The actual detecting could have lasted longer for my taste. I can't get enough of Sherlock's wise-cracking.
THE VERDICT: Recommended, but maybe a longer Sherlock tale would be a better starter-drug.
RATING: 6,5/10
Full review over at the SFF Book Review
In one line?
An intriguing story about responsibility and what makes us human, interspliced with too much landscape description - still a wholeheartedly recommended gothic horror title!
This sounded like something I had to read myself, and boy, do I wish I hadn't.
My full review can be found at SFF Book Review. I don't have the wish or energy to post it here (and do all the reformatting and stuff).
Here's the really short version:
THE GOOD: The chapters in italics, told by the Girls.
THE BAD: Everything else. Misogyny, sexism, homophobes, a boring plot, douchebag characters, no romance, no mystery (!), and writing that ranges from okay to absolutely terrible!
THE VERDICT: A waste of time and money. An incredibly boring, pretentious story that spews hate for women on almost every page and does NOT examine it or make its protagonist grow. Fail.
RATING: 3/10 – Really bad.
Stunning! Full review here: http://fantasybuchreviews.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/orson-scott-card-enders-game-2/
This must be the laziest “Ethiopian inspired” Jane Eyre “retelling” ever.
The world building is nonexistent, the characters are one-dimensional and contradictory, the plot makes no sense, it has insta-love, no magic system and no conflict. Also, so much artificial DRAMA!
The beginning was fun because Magnus and Andi had some nice banter but this book is a first draft at best, not a finished novel.
Also, keep your Catholic preachiness out of my YA, thank you.
Full review at SFF Book Review.
I cannot stress enough how much I loved Kushiel's Dart. The second book already was a let-down because there was very little of what made the first book so great. Phèdre's exceptional gift is nothing new anymore, neither is the world Jacqueline Carey has created - magnificent as it may be.
In this novel, I was very happy to get to know the character of Imriel. He lifted the entire story for me. But there was even less of the great things from the previous volumes. Almost no Melisande, almost no Hyacinthe, and way too much travelling.
I'd recommend reading it if you absolutely have to know how certain plot threads are resolved. But as the trilogy goes, it has been getting worse and worse for me. I honestly hope that in the Imriel trilogy, Jacqueline Carey has an actual story to tell, not just a world to travel around in...
Started out as a 5 star read, ended as “only” a 3.5 to 4 star one. But I am very much hooked and want more of this world!
The twist revelation was obvious from the middle of the book but that wasn't what made the heart of this story. And I loved the characters so much that I can't rate this less than 4 stars.
