Emma

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I wouldn't say I was disappointed with The Fifth Season. It just wasn't as good as what I have come to expect from NK Jemisin. I mean, I did enjoy it, and I will definitely buy the sequel. It just didn't have that spark that made me love The Killing Moon and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.

But I did enjoy this. I like the diversity of the characters in Jemisin's books. I like the way she explores sexuality, she is one of the very few authors I've read that has more than just straight pairings. I liked the powers these characters had – basically the ability to control thermal, kinetic and other forms of energy (like earthquakes). I thought it was really interesting how these characters were treated because of their powers.

But the writing style threw me off. Part of the story is narrated from a second-person point of view. I guessed the link between the three main characters before it was revealed which was slightly annoying. There also seemed to be a number of strange grammatical errors. At one point a character talks about catching pregnancy. Look, it was good, I did enjoy it and I can't wait for the sequel. It just wasn't quite as good as Jemisin's other books.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

This is the first Neal Stephenson book I actually liked, though it did take me a while to get into it. I think I fell in love around the 40% mark and read the remaining 500 pages in the space of 3 days. In fact I was reading it on a train at one point and literally had to put the book away because otherwise I would not have wanted to get off the train.

The first thing I love about this book is the very first line: “The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason“. At no point in this 900 page book do we find out why the moon blew up, it just did. And I love that because why the moon blew up isn't the important thing. Seveneves is all about what happened next because the moon blew up.

If that first sentence is enough to make you want to read this book, stop reading this review right now. Seveneves is the type of book where its best going in knowing as little as possible. Go buy the book and come back after you've finished it.

The first 60% of Seveneves takes place directly after the break up of the moon. We see scientists realise that the huge chunks of rock that were previously the moon are going to start breaking up and falling to earth – which the scientists refer to as hard rain – causing the atmosphere to burn and making the earth uninhabitable for thousands of years.

In a way the first part of Seveneves is very similar to The Martian. But instead of Mark Watney you have the entire human race trying to figure out a way to not die. The result is a colony of the smartest people on tiny ships surrounding the International Space Station. We see everything these people go through trying to get to a safe place in which they can start to rebuild the human race.

I don't want to give away any spoilers for the second part of the book but it takes place 5000 years after the moon's breakup and deals with the consequences of the decisions made by the original members of the mission.

I cannot say this enough, I loved this book. I love that we get to see the consequences of one characters action thousands of years later. I love that this whole world feels so fleshed out. I love the artwork made for the second part. I love that this is about evolution and natural selection and genetics. But above all, even with all the super technical sciency stuff, I love that this book is primarly about people and the choices they make

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I'm surprised to say this but I did not like The Ship. To be more specific I did not like the main character – Lalla. She felt like a spoiled little kid. She is born into this dystopian version of London but has lived such a sheltered life that she really doesn't understand what life is like in the capital.

Food is running out, people are fighting for survival and being killed by the government for not having an identity card. Meanwhile Lalla spends her time at home with her parents and goes on trips to the British Museum with her mum. She doesn't understand why life onboard the ship is so much better than what everyone had in London and therefore spends her time longing to have her London life back.

In fact at one point her father tells her that he built a ship for her so she has the time and resources to figure out what to do after the ships supplies run out. But instead of actually doing anything she just focuses on the fact that the food and clothes and toothpaste will all run out at some point.

I think this could have been a really interesting dystopia but it was ruined by an annoying main character.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I like ancient Egyptian mythology. I find it fascinating. So when I came across a book about Ancient Egypt I thought it would be good. I was wrong. So wrong. This book was so historically inaccurate that it pained me to read it. First you have these Egyptian princes that were buried in a place that literally did not exist during the time they were alive. The author completely ignored every single thing historians know about Hatshepsut and made up a story about how she was in some secret club (Hatshepsut being one of the only female Kings of Egypt and was forgotten by history because she was good at her job).

Worst of all, it seemed like Houck got her information about The Book of the Dead from the Mummy movies. Surprisingly The Book of the Dead is not some magic book that you should never ever read or else you will bring the 10 plagues down on Egypt. It is literally just a handbook on what to do in the afterlife. Like I have a copy of this book. I have read this book and I can tell you with complete certainty that it has exactly zero magic spells in it.

Then Lily was so annoying. She finds this guy in the Egyptian wing of a museum, sees him heal himself and then he sneaks into her bedroom and she decides to help him because she thinks he is a cancer patient. And then there was the whole thing where she is talking about how attractive this guy is after only knowing him for two hours. Then of course in just a matter of days they fall in love and decide that they can't spend the rest of their lives apart. I'm not even going to get started on Lily “not being like other girls”.

But then there was that whole thing where Lily was basically kidnapped and taken to Egypt. The insta-love was bad but then she falls in love with a guy who basically forced her to go to Egypt with him. She may have said yes but that was only because she literally couldn't say no and that's just super creepy. Stockholm syndrome isn't a cute romance and I don't understand why so many authors try to make it seem like it is.

I was really disappointed by this. I genuinely did want to enjoy it. I like Egyptian mythology and haven't read many books about it. But this was just a bad historically inaccurate typical teenage romance. In my opinion you should just watch Night At The Museum instead.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

You know how sometimes you read a book that gives you all the feels but then it takes those feels and jumps on them and mashes them into tiny pieces. That was The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet. To say I enjoyed this book is an understatement. Its a mash up of all the things I love about Star Trek, its about modern problems, race, class, gender, violence but told through a futuristic setting.

The story is told the eyes of a girl called Rosemary who has never been off Mars before and gets a job on a spacecraft with other alien species. Most of the story deals with Rosemary adjusting to living with these people and getting used to the fact that the human way of life and normal gender roles don't apply to aliens and even just assuming that they would apply can be seen as offensive. I suppose it's an idea that we should see more in science-fiction (it can't really apply to real life since as far as we know aliens don't exist). Just because we have male and female sexual organs doesn't mean that an alien species will have the same or even something that compares to it.

The characters are so fascinating, we have 4 humans, Rosemary is from what you would call the upperclass, these humans left Earth to start a new life on Mars but in doing so left the others behind to die. The other three are spacers which basically means they have lived in space all their life. But one of them also has dwarfism so you have this really interesting thing where they could be cured of their dwarfism – we even see how people having their genes changed is a normal thing – but they choose not to because even though they are small, they feel normal like that.

We have Sizzix, who is very similar to a lizard, though calling her, or any of her race a lizard is akin to speciesism. Just because the closest thing she can be compared to is a lizard doesn't mean it's okay to make that comparison. But we also get to see how the family dynamics in her species differs from humans (and that's really fascinating). We have the doctor/ chef who is also a member of an alien race, I don't want to say too much but he has a really fascinating back story.

And then we have Ohan who is the Navigator but also a navigator. The closest thing I can compare Ohan to is the Trill in Star Trek. Ohan is the member of a species called the Sianat, this race is infected with a virus while young, this virus gives them the ability to understand what is going on in the sublayer of space, an extremely important thing for a Navigator. However this virus makes them more than one person. Sort of like that episode of Voyager where a transporter accident turns Tuvok and Neelix into one person. But this virus ends up causing some interesting moral dilemmas.

I really loved this book. It feels like an episode of Star Trek. You have this organisation – very similar to the Federation – who have realised that they can do better than fight, so try to find a way to cooperate in peace. But it's really this little story about the people living together on a ship and the fascinating characters they meet. The only complaint I have about this book is that there is no sequel. Basically if you like Star Trek read this book. If you don't like Star Trek read it anyway.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

So I really liked this book. I really really liked this book. Like I would have given it 6 stars if I could. I didn't even want to finish it, however I did partly because I had to write this review and partly because I found out that there is an 800 page sequel coming out in September next year (imo that's far too long a wait but I'm not the publisher).

Luna is partly the story of a young Brazilian girl that comes from nothing, moves to the moon to find a job and creates an organisation that mines helium which basically powers all the lights on Earth. It is also the story of this family/ organisation two generations later and shows the consequences of the young girl's actions.

Its almost a dystopia in a way, the people on the moon have to pay their four elementals, air, water, carbon and data. However its almost understandable why they need to pay that. Water and oxygen are not found on the moon, it needs to be created or brought from Earth. So even though there are poor on the moon – out of a job because they have been replaced by AI – needing to sell their urine and unable to take a full breath because they are low on oxygen. It makes total sense why that system is in place.

Everyone on the moon is constantly shown the state of their elementals with a chib, a virtual pane in an interactive contact lens. Its almost like a virtual reality thing, it can show adverts and it shows every persons familiar. This is almost like a small virtual assistant. This was done so well, I've read books where the ‘altered reality' is the whole point of the story. In this its just a tool just like the daily elementals is just a thing that comes with living on the moon.

And then we have some fantastically strong female characters. Who have to be strong because they are on the moon. We see how in the beginning there are only organisations on the Moon, no definite rules, just codes of conduct. And with men outnumbering the women it means that women need to look after themselves. So basically what you now have is women who are totally prepared to kick butt while also wearing a dress and Rimmel lipstick. Basically these ladies look like Effie Trinket and fight like Brienne of Tarth.

Then you have this really interesting way that people on the moon view sexuality. It seems that people on the moon have moved beyond the Earth standard, gay or straight, man or woman. Basically its now a spectrum and people sleep with whomever they want. We also have some really interesting gender fluid characters who almost have the exact opposite of Lycanthropy. However the one single problem I had with this book, was a sex scene at almost 50% through. This book is very open about sexuality and that's good, I just didn't expect a full out 50 Shades of Grey type scene. But you can totally still enjoy this without reading that bit.

I can't fully express how much I loved this book. There is a story line through it but it's really just setting up the next volume. However the book is so fascinating that you really don't mind its just setting up the next book. Its really just the story of one family with the Moon and all this technology in the background. It was the perfect mix of interesting plot and characters that I came to genuinely care for. In fact I enjoyed it so much I am going to buy a copy of this (and all of Ian McDonalds other books too).

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I can't quite decide if this book is mocking all those aliens invade type science-fiction movies or if it took them and tried to make this new weird thing. Basically Ernest Cline is either a genius or a maniac and I can't quite decide which one it is. So heres the thing, I enjoyed this book but I also had some massive problems with it. Problems which I don't want to talk about because I will give away many many spoilers. But despite that I did actually really like this.

Its an Ernest Cline book so you go into it knowing that there are going to be references to Star Trek and Star Wars and a bunch of other things. But I like that it also has these really subtle pop culture references. I like that he mentions the Kobayashi Maru without any other references to Star Trek, I like that he gave a little explanation of what it is for people who haven't watched Star Trek while people who have watched Star Trek will fully understand what he is talking about. I like all the references to internet memes, even Leeroy Jenkins. I am a nerd and I like that there is a book with all of these things, where it acknowledges and celebrates the nerds of the world.

However I did feel that all the pop culture references got a little over the top in some parts, especially when Cline was trying to make certain points of the book very serious and it just didn't work because of the references to Galaxy Quest.

I love that the main character actually feels like a real kid. He would rather play video games than go to school, he doesn't want to think about the future, he has no idea what he wants to do after he graduates and when he finds out that aliens are real he reacts in a realistic way. And by that I mean he shouts and screams and has a panic attack.

But it did kind of feel that Ernest Cline had copied Ready Player One. In both books we have a main character who becomes obsessed with this one person, they learn everything they can about them and go as far as to watch the movies and read the books and play the games they liked. In both we also have these huge computer games that basically everyone all over the world play. It felt like Ernest Cline had found this winning plot in Ready Player One and instead of creating something new for Armada just rehashed that same plot again with a few changes

I will admit that Armada has some problems however its very good for what it is, which is basically an adventure book for nerds, if you want to read something without thinking too much about the plot this is great. It's really not meant to be taken very seriously. Basically if you are a nerd, or enjoy science-fiction and gaming, you will probably enjoy this.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I really enjoyed this. I was dark, gritty and way more violent than what I would expect from a young adult book. It also doesn't have any of the cliques I've come to expect from YA (no insta-love) which I really liked. In fact the only reason you know it's YA is because at one point the character mentions being 17 and it's pretty much never mentioned again.

I liked the fact that the character is constantly being told how she isn't any more special than anyone else and that she has to look after herself. In my opinion thats pretty important on a ship where everyone is trying to kill you. This is a tiny detail but I also really liked the fact that the author doesn't come straight out in the first few pages and tell you the main character is a girl. You don't actually find out she is a girl till about 20 pages in. Its a really good example of showing rather than telling.

However there were a few things I didn't like. The story takes place on board a ship. Now the layout of the ship is really important because gangs taking over certain areas is like integral to the plot. But I found it really difficult to visualize the ship. You're told its laid out in hexagonal levels with a shaft in the middle. But the stairs are really confusing because they seem to drop two levels at a time, then you find out the ship is split vertically in half. It was really confusing. I would have preferred some sort of map.

The last problem I had is with these Across The Universe, The Forever Watch type books in general. As soon as you read “generational ship sent out from earth after bad thing happened” you just know there is going to be some sort of twist. Its got to the point where “generational ship” now automatically means “our ancestors have been lying to us” and there is going to be some sort of plot twist. Admittedly in this the plot twist is sort of interesting, the ship turning out to be a prison isn't something I've seen before, but it was kind of obvious considering the ship is called Australia. Its just annoying that you go into these sorts of books expecting a twist so you're not surprised when it happens.

However I was genuinely surprised by how good this book was. I'm really interested to see how the series continues.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I think most of David Mitchell's books are similar in that they are quite confusing and you really need to read them more than once to fully understand what is going on. Fortunately The Bone Clocks is not as confusing as his other books, though I do feel like I need to give this another read before I can properly comment on it.

It just wasn't as good as I had expected. Now this could be down to the fact that it simply isn't as good as his other books. Or it could be the fact that I've waited so long to read this book that in my head I've built it up to be some amazing work of fiction. Or maybe like I already said, it could be that I need to read it again to fully understand all the foreshadowing and everything else that's going on. Either way it just wasn't as good as I though it would be.

But that's not to say it wasn't good, its just not 5 stars. Because I did enjoy it. The first chapter is a wonderful introduction to out protagonist. You really feel like you're in the 80s in south England with her, going on her adventure. The fifth chapter was a fantastic mix of science-fiction and fantasy. Exactly what I've come to expect from David Mitchell. The final chapter was heartbreaking and nearly made me put the book down.

I also really liked the fact that the basis for this book is very similar to Cloud Atlas, both are about souls and reincarnation. However David Mitchell has managed to create two entirely different books that are both based on the same idea. Another little thing, and this is not unique to The Bone Clocks but David Mitchell has a habit of inserting characters from his other books. It's really just a fun little nod to his other works and doesn't detract from the overall story if you don't get the references.

Basically even though it didn't live up to my expectations, it was still a good book.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I didn't think I was going to enjoy this as much as I did. Its basically a romance and I don't typically like romance novels, and yet I loved this. First of all it's set in Scotland, and I might be a bit biased here, but Scotland is a lovely place and as a setting for a book you won't find anywhere nicer. Next it's set around Loch Ness and though I did just say that Scotland is pretty nice, some bits of it are nicer than other. Loch Ness is one of those nicer bits, if grass, sheep and really tall mountains are your kind of thing.

But then its about a bunch of Americans coming to Scotland looking for the Loch Ness Monster, and it's so wonderful because you get to see that culture shock of a bunch of posh pampered Americans, used to being waited on hand and foot coming to Scotland thinking everything is going to be done for them. And then Sara Gruen has brilliantly captured the personality of the Scottish people, especially when these Americans arrive thinking everything will be done for them, it's hilarious how the locals don't beat around the bush and will say straight out “fuck off, do it yourself” to these pampered Americans (okay so they didn't say that exactly but you get the idea).

Its also set during World War 2 and I really loved how the war is going on in the background. Its not hugely important to the plot. But you really get a sense of how these people in the Highlands were living during WW2. Gruen must have spent a lot of time doing her research. Though one slight thing I noticed was that a number of characters had a habit of slipping into Gaelic, now I may be wrong here but I'm pretty sure it's more folk on the west coast of Scotland who speak Gaelic, though that could have been different 70 years ago.

I feel like I'm rambling here but this book was really great. Its a weird mix of romance during WW2 with a side of Scottish history and a little bit of magic, but all together it works brilliantly. I loved it and you should read it. Meanwhile I'm off to find a copy of Water for Elephants.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

This was okay. A reasonably good science fiction book. The problem I had with this, and other books like it who have some sort of futuristic version of the internet. Is that the authors never really fully explain how it works. I mean authors will describe it as some sort of virtual reality, maybe mention spam bots or anti-virus or something like that. But they never fully explain how it works. I would like that little bit of computer science in there to understand whats going on. But I don't know, that might just be me being a computer nerd.

I also didn't like the description of the space station. We are told that the station is on an asteroid, but I could never work out if it looked like the ship in that whale episode of Doctor Who or if it looked like the Citadel in Mass Effect. I couldn't properly visualize the station and that annoyed me.

The fact that the station was being run by gods was annoying too. We are told what the gods do to keep the place running, but we are never told why there are a bunch of gods running the station. I don't even think these gods were people, from what I could tell they were just lines of code.

But yes, this wasn't great. Could be much better. If you liked Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Thomas Sweterlitsch you might want to give this a read. Otherwise I wouldn't recommend it.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I liked this. It was a very character focused book. It was interesting to see how their lives were changed by just a few small decisions. Though as much as I enjoyed it I don't think it was very realistic. It is very romanticised, the thought that a tiny decision like going for a drink could so entirely change your life.

Another slight technical problem I had was that it was quite difficult to tell what timeline I was in. However this may be because I was reading an eARC and the headings were not quite clear enough, as such it was easy to miss them entirely. Other than that it was a pretty good book.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

This book is what I imagine would happen if you mixed the Vogons from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with the bumbling idiocy of Winnie the Pooh. Its a quirky tale of misunderstandings which turns into a satirical take on capitalism. It was a very strange book, it takes place in a small idyllic country of seemingly no significant importance to the world. To be honest when I started reading this the descriptions made it seem so idyllic that I thought I was going to be reading some strange dystopian fiction.

But I really enjoyed it. It was a thought provoking read that really made you think about capitalism and the role of women in keeping a country running. It was also about tea and had a very good argument for tea becoming a basic human right and that is something I fully support.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I've always just assumed that I don't like crime novels, apart from the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith I haven't found any crime books I've liked. But I think the problem is I've been reading bad crime books. Because I really enjoyed this. It was less CSI-ey and more people talking to people trying to work out what happened. It was more a book about problem solving and I really liked that.

The only thing I noticed (and this may just be me and not a problem with the editing) was towards the beginning of the book someone mentions the fact that the girls in this school are not allowed to have phones with them. However the girls having phones is a large part of this mystery. In fact the girls having phones is an extremely important part of this novel. I can't tell if I misread something or if this was a plot bunny that the editors missed.

The only other tiny thing that annoyed me was with all the references to Facebook and WTF amazeballs not to mention Voldemort this felt like a very modern book, so the fact that these girls were using flip phones felt very out of place. I realise I'm getting picky here but it's been at least 10 years since I saw someone use a flip phone. However apart from those little problems I really enjoyed this book. In fact I enjoyed it so much I think I'm going to read Tana French's other books.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

This was surprisingly enjoyable. I found it all strangely fascinating, you sort of get to see how the rich people live. Though most of the time it makes fun of the Oxbridge, art-collecting, well-read, lawyers and political types. It was a very easy book to read, the type of book you would want to take on holiday with you. I would definitely recommend if you are into art or modern day politics.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I was really surprised by this. In that it wasn't as bad as I expected it would be. I think angels are the new in thing right now, what with books like The Bone Season and The Catalyst. In those books the beings are called angels because that is the best way to describe them, I like that in this we have proper biblical angels. I like that it had that little bit of religion in it. However I didn't like the fact that I was constantly being reminded about what hunks these angels were. I mean from what I can tell these angels basically look like those guys who stand outside Abercrombie and Fitch.

It felt a little strange. It felt like Susan Ee was trying to fit a romance story into this post-apocalyptic world and it just didn't seem to work very well. All the way through the story it felt like she was trying to hint at romance, but it was through silly stuff like Penryn wondering if she should wash her hair because cute guy. But then suddenly at the end it was all boom romance.

I also felt that Penryn doing so many years of self defense was a little unbelievable. I mean she was basically ready for the apocalypse to happen. The reason for this being that she needed to protect herself from her mother, though I didn't feel that her mother was much of a threat, other than having a strange egg obsession she didn't feel that dangerous.

My only other grievance was the start of the novel. I know its annoying if a book starts out with a huge amount of exposition, however I like to know at least a little of what happened. Especially in a post-apocalyptic world. And I definitely want to know more than just “Its been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it”. Apart from that it really wasn't too bad.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

This was a really fascinating book, its hard to believe that it actually happened. It feels more like a spy novel than an account of real events. Rossiter did a really good job of collating all the information available into a readable narrative. No easy feat considering the amount of information still classified.

I really enjoyed this book. It makes you feel sorry for Fuchs, he was undoubtably a brilliant physicist and an even better spy. Fuchs must have believed that what he was doing would help to achieve a balance between East and West. The only thing I would liked to have known more about is why he decided to turn himself in to MI6, unfortunately since Fuchs and his wife are now both dead that is something we will never know.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I really enjoyed this book. I found the characters so interesting. I've spent days trying to decide if I actually like Tooley or if I just like the fact that she owns a book shop. In the end I decided that its a little bit of both. I love that books play a huge role in this book. As it turns out the best way to my heart is to write a book about books.

This book is really Tooley's journey, spanning over three decades. She is trying to find out who she is and what happened to her in the past. Someone described this book as a jigsaw puzzle and it really is. The narrative moves between three decades, you go along with Tooley trying to fit all the pieces of her life into place.

This is a must read book. Its fantastic and heartbreaking and the ending is wonderfully realistic. I loved this book. Its one that will stay with you.

This has nothing to do with the review, I just wanted to mention it. There is a quote at the end of this book I wanted to talk about because it explains perfectly the reason why I prefer physical books to ebooks:

People kept their books, she thought, not because they were likely to read them again but because these objects contained the past – the texture of being oneself at a particular place, at a particular time, each volume a piece of one's intellect, whether the work itself had been loved or despised or had included a snooze on page forty.

When we read an ebook we experience the story but that's it. When we read a book we experience the story but the story is contained within an object. We associate memories with that object whether that be what we were doing while reading that book or other things that just happened to happen during that particular time of our life. That object – book – begins to get its own story, one that has nothing to do with the story contained within its pages. Its a story that you miss out on if you read on a little screen. Its a story that makes reading that book more enjoyable. And I like that.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

The best way I could describe this book is CSI: Georgian London. This book does a really good job at being a murder mystery while also being a fantastic historical fiction novel. It tells the story of Harriet Westerman, a wealthy young widow and Gabriel Crowther, a brilliant, reclusive anatomist, as they investigate the death of former West Indies plantation owner. Slavery plays an importation role in this book which makes it feel very dark. It touches on the subject of England's extensive slave trade and plantation owners in Jamaica. It also focuses on the free slaves who started to build lives for themselves in the UK.

This book has a fantastically large number of interesting characters. However I am admittedly not that great with names and this resulted in me being confused because there were so many characters. While I enjoyed this book I couldn't help but feel that I would have understood who and what was going on much better if I had read the other books in the series first.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I really enjoyed this book. Sarah Leipciger did a fantastic job of telling this haunting story. Most of the book takes place around British Columbia and the imagery is so fantastic that you feel like you are there in the mountains with Tom.

Its the sort of book where you want to take your time reading it to really enjoy the story. Not much happens in this, its really just the story of one ordinary man dealing with the things life throws his way.

I'm going to say it again, I really enjoyed this book. It was very realistic though a little depressing at times. My only problem with this book was the last few chapters. The book was fantastic but it almost felt like the author gave up at the end. I'm not saying the final chapters were bad, they were just not as good as the rest of the book.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I really don't know how I feel about this book. It was an okay story, but a large part of the book is about a family who keep secrets from each other. However I couldn't help but be frustrated by this. Why couldn't this family just talk to each other rather than keep so many secrets, literally most of this book would not have happened if they had taken the time and used their words.

Not only that but the characters reactions to these secrets were so over the top it felt almost unbelievable. It was so annoying how these characters acted on a whim without ever stopping to think about their actions.

I have to say I did enjoy parts of this book, I liked how many of the characters used creative outlets as a way to heal. It just annoyed me how most of this book literally would not have happened if the characters had taken the time to talk to each other. If I were to sum it up in one word it would be frustrating.

This review may be slightly biased because I love this book. Like I really really love this book. Okay first thing is it's a post apocalyptic novel. But it's so believable. We don't have any of this phone signals turning people into zombies, or aliens invading or nuclear detonations. It's just a really really bad virus that kills almost everyone. I mean if Ebola or some other virus gets worse that could actually happen. It sort of did happen once with the Spanish Flu.

I love that it's sci-fi but not really. Actually its barely sci-fi. This is the sort of book I would recommend for people who don't like sci-fi. I mean yes a good part of the book is set in a post-apocalyptic world, but it's still not sci-fi. Apart from a new virus it really doesn't have any new science in it. Its really more a story about a bunch of people living in a world with no electricity, no medicine, no internet, no anything basically.

But the one thing I love most about this book (and I may start rambling here) is that is has a reference to Star Trek Voyager. This is probably no secret but I am a huge Star Trek Voyager nerd. One thing that annoys me when any media makes a reference to Star Trek is that they forget there is more to Star Trek than James T Kirk. I mean there are five Star Trek television series (six if you include the animated series), not to mention the movies. And yet when there is any mention of Star Trek in pop culture you can bet it will be referencing The Original Series.

So the fact that Emily St John Mandel referenced ST: Voyager and not only that but it explains a huge part of the book. That one tiny line explains the entire reason why there is a shakespeare company travelling around North America and Canada. That was the moment I fell in love with this book.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

This was a reasonably good historical fiction. The only problem I found was that I kept comparing it to The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. These two books are nothing alike but The Pillars of the Earth was so good that I can't help but compare any historical fiction book I read to it. And I've found that nothing really compares to it.

I did find it a little too long for my liking. One thing I really did not like is that there is a mob scene about half way through this book. It involved lots of heads being removed from bodies and while it wasn't that violent that is just the sort of thing I really don't like and it scared me quite a lot. This book was okay, but not great. If you like historical fiction you would probably enjoy it, I hate saying this but its the sort of book you read while on holiday.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

This book will not teach you how to be more spontaneous. Because of the very nature of spontaneity it is not something you can learn from a book. However it does show how not concentrating on a task will help achieve the desired outcome.

This book also explores the meaning of the Chinese concepts of wu-wei. The book is full of examples of the action-less doing of wu-wei (being in the zone) as well as examples from contemporary neuroscience. It even goes as far as comparing wu-wei to Luke Skywalker using the force in Star Wars.

This is not a self-help book, it doesn't have a simple step-by-step guide on how to be more spontaneous. However it does have concepts that you can put into practice in every day life to try and be more spontaneous. Whether that be in sport, art, blogging or just falling asleep.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

This was a weird book, it sort of has an important message. It tries to remind you that animals have feelings too and maybe eating meat is a bad thing. But that message was lost under poop jokes and the general silliness that is this book.

I just couldn't believe that a cow was able to not be noticed in New York just by walking on two legs. I couldn't believe that no one noticed the cow on the plane. I mean cows aren't exactly that inconspicuous. I'm sure most people would recognise a cow if they were sitting next to one, even if said cow was wearing a hat and sunglasses.

I went into this book knowing that it was going to be very silly and it was still too silly for me. Though I have to say the one thing I found most unbelievable, more than a cow knowing who Jennifer Lawrence is. More than a turkey that knows how to fly a plane. Was that they had a phone that lasted 3 days before needing charged up.