Kari
Things are getting way out of control! Woodbury was extremely intense. It feels so hopeless most of the time. The little glimpses at hope are very few and far between.
Even though I liked Asmira more than I liked Nathaniel in The Amulet of Samarkand I liked the story in Amulet better. Bartimeaus is still full of sarcasm and wit and made every bit of the story entertaining.
More terrifying games for the Gladers. Now they're out of the Maze, but the tests and trials haven't stopped. Around every turn something awful happens to the kids and Thomas doesn't know who he's supposed to trust.
It's just one bad thing after the other and at the end of it all it only feels like we have a very small fraction of the story. I'm hoping this is only a trilogy because I don't think I can take anymore!
I'm not a big fan of Stephen King, but love Snyder's work and a friend recommended that I try this one out. As luck would have it the library had it just sitting there the other day so I picked it up and cracked it open.
I really enjoyed the story, especially Pearl's vengeance driven story line. I wasn't as fond of the old west story (and not because that was King's part), but I'm just not a big fan of westerns although I did find it entertaining nonetheless. I'm not sure that I liked the whole thing enough to continue to read through the series (is there more?), but I did enjoy this volume.
It took me a bit of time to get into this one. The drawings are something to get used to and I wasn't sure I wanted to read past page 4, but I stuck with it and I'm glad I did. It's a cute story about pure hearts and dreams despite everything around you falling apart. It's about protecting those around you who need protecting, even if they are big enough to take care of themselves. Cute, funny and heartwarming with a little bit of morality thrown in.
In my quest to “read more books I should have read in high school” I decided to finally pick this one up. I don't think that I would have had the same appreciation for this when I was 16 so I am kind of glad I waited! Normally, I steer away from books from the perspective of animals because, eh, not my thing and there were many times I wondered “doesn't anyone think it's strange that they're doing business with a pig?” Nonetheless, I found it both highly amusing and also slightly sad!
Not my favorite NG story, but I didn't hate it. I'm going to try to track down the movie now to see how I feel after watching that.
This was fine. Hunger Games with a king instead of a President like Hunger Games was The Running Man with a President instead of a game show host.
This had everything you want in a mystery, but something about Mia rubbed me the wrong way. And it was sad. Sad on so many different levels. It had my emotions bouncing all over the place.
Some of these stories were so much I felt like I was going to throw up from stress. The scariest things are not the mythical creatures, but the real ones walking on two feet.
The minute I saw this book I knew that I would love it. Usually, when I see I cover I love I expect it will probably not stand up to my expectations, but this time I knew because it was Peter Pan.
Peter Pan has always secretly been my favorite of Disney movies. And not because of Peter or Wendy, but Tinker Bell & Tiger Lily. I thought Tiger Lily was beautiful in the cartoon movie. I wanted to know her story and I wanted Peter to love only her. I thought Wendy was bossy and silly and didn't deserve Peter. Tinker Bell has just always been my favorite. Feisty and animated. She couldn't talk, but boy did you know how she felt. Since then Tink has had her own series of movies and it's been so fun to see that world from her eyes, but still, the silent Tink holds a place in my heart.
Jodi Lynn Anderson has done an amazing job at making the story of Peter Pan the story of Tiger Lily and Tinker Bell. She's weaved in bits of J.M. Barrie's tale into hers and reminded us of Disney's classic, but there is no humor and this is not a children's tale.
It is dark and dangerous. And it feels real. She took each and every character and made them as real as they could be living on an island almost impossible to reach by ship where hardly anyone grows old. Captain Hook is desperate to catch Peter and in Disney's story I always wondered what would really happen if he did catch him. In Anderson's tale I knew that when he did catch him Peter would die. He isn't a bumbling captain to a ragtag group of pirates, but a madman looking not so much for treasure as much as he just wants to kill. Smee isn't the sweet, reluctant pirate, but a dark and dangerous serial killer.
The tale is told from Tinker Bell's perspective as she has abandoned her own people to live with Tiger Lily whom she loves and admires but doesn't think knows she exists. Able to read human's minds through their feelings she is the perfect storyteller. The story is dark and beautiful and heartbreaking and I loved every word of it.
Dr. Tenma is searching desperately for clues to Johan & his twin sister's whereabouts, sure that more murders will happen soon if he can't find them. He teams up with a reluctant reporter and together the try to connect the dots that will ultimately lead them to terror. The story builds within every page, tension is rife throughout the entire book. How is that possible?!
The manga reads like a novel, rich and satisfying, but seriously terrifying as well. I think it's time to rip into this series!
This was a strange read for me. On one hand I felt like it was amazingly magical yet steeped quite heavily in real life, but on the other I couldn't quite love the characters enough to care for their fate.
Phoebe is born into a family of exceptional people, or at least to a mother who is exceptional and despite her extraordinary ancestors, she feels that at any moment she will be revealed to be less than. And ultimately, this is what dooms her.
Of course, we don't really believe in faeries. We might, a little, but we don't truly expect to find them walking among us. But somehow, Nancy Werlin's tale of faerie treachery is scarily real. Mallory and Ryland's job is to systematically break Phoebe down until she admits to herself and to anyone else that she is ordinary. That she is nothing. Mallory tries to accomplish this by betraying a friendship years in the making. Ryland's methods are much more effective and scarily familiar. He uses love, or at least the desire to be loved.
The perfect example of a mentally abusive boyfriend Ryland demeans her, affectionately calls her ‘stupid' and ridicules her while keeping his voice smooth and alluring. Of course, Phoebe falls for it as so many other women have. And I think this is why I couldn't fully love the book. Yes, Werlin does a wonderful job at telling the story. The scenes were vivid, the characters seemingly well thought out, but the ease at which Ryland breaks Phoebe down left a bitter taste in my mouth. That she so quickly falls for it, for everything, was disappointing.
But then there is this moment when the book changes and I found myself unwilling to put it down. Isn't that what we want in a book? Still, even in the end I found myself wanting for something so I can't say I fully enjoyed the book, but it did whet my appetite enough that I will look forward to coming across more of Werlin's novels.
I didn't love this the way I have Racculia's other books. I couldn't connect with the characters and Arthur really bothered me. There was no growth for any of the characters and I kept finding my attention drifting away.
You can read my full review on the Scott Pilgrim series on my blog here: http://knowitnotsomuch.blogspot.com/2012/02/scott-pilgrim-is-awesome-like-ninja.html
It's hard to review stuff like this without giving away key plot points that make the story is great as it is. There are moments here where I thought ‘oh crap, didn't see that coming!' and I don't know if it's because I'm not as immersed in this era of Batman or if it really was an ‘oh crap, didn't see that coming!' moment for others who read it as well.
I'm not so versed when it comes to Orpheus or Onyx and I didn't even really remember there was ever another Batgirl besides Barbara Gordon so there was a lot of new material for me to digest. There is a lot of drama in this collection and this was one of those collections where I felt like I should have read the issues before these, but that's a lot of backstory and until I can get my hands on all 630 Batman issues before this one I'm probably always going to be behind.
Nonetheless, this was an engaging, gripping series. There were a few times when I was a little lost as to who was speaking, but that was usually cleared up pretty fast. I would surely recommend this one to anyone who was looking to get into the Batman world. It's got some pretty big moments...
I find it interesting that people who didn't like this book complained about how it was a book of short stories and not a novel as described. I can see how they would perceive it as such, if they didn't actually read the book. I really, really liked the book. It grew on me. I wasn't sure that I would like it because I couldn't really find anything that mentioned what the book was about. What was the plot? Who was the main character? But before I knew it I was sucked in and I didn't care. I was sold.
I loved how every character was connected in some way. I loved their stories and the glimpses into these moments in time, but sometimes I felt a little cheated that I didn't get more. Before I knew it though, I was onto the next snippet and lost in another character's moment. My favorite moment? Alison's slideshow. Oh the feels.
Did the book deserve a Pulitzer? I have no idea. I'm not that kind of reader. The only other Pulitzer winning book I've read that I know of is Olive Kitteridge and I don't remember loving it that much so I'm not the best judge! Is the book worth reading? I think so. I think if you go in with no expectations and just read because reading is rad you will find yourself, like I did, mesmerized.
I like the relationship between Eleanor and Maggie, but Eleanor kind of gets on my nerves sometimes. I don't even understand why the love interest was ever introduced and why it was a part of this book! The murder was entertaining (that sounds so bad!) but everything is over the top.
I must begin my review by stating that I love Anthony Bourdain. There is very little that he has done or said in his career that I didn't find true or amusing, or both. And I think that Medium Raw is excellent. He is honest, both about the people he thinks are wrong and about himself. No one is safe from his critiques, but he isn't just spewing vitriol or haphazardly calling people douchebags. There is a method to his madness. He is equally negative and positive in his critiques and while he may think that Alice Waters should probably retire her gardens for schools idea he thinks her heart is in the right place. When he names someone a villain he has a reason and a good one at that.
He does a quick ‘where are they now' for the co-stars of Kitchen Confidential and it makes me want to go back and read it all over again. He admits that there is no way he can hack it on the line anymore. He talks a lot about starting his career moving away from the kitchen and in front of the camera. He discusses why Food Network is evil and David Chang is brilliant and a maniac. He validates that Top Chef really is the only cooking competition show on TV worth watching. ;) I loved every word.
Definitely a page turner. Fun, creepy in a kid friendly way. I thought it would be sad and it was a bit, but it was much more interesting and sweet than I thought it would be!