Emma

I really enjoyed this. It's about farming in the Lake District and it's surprisingly interesting. One thing that did annoy me however is certain parts are almost an autobiography, and considering this book is supposed to be about sheep farming they feel unnecessary. I don't want to sound mean or anything but I'm reading this for the farming aspect not because I want to learn about the author's life.

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.

A thing I want to just mention before I start this review is that I already knew the Animal Farm story before reading this. Sort of... I watched the cartoon as a kid not realising that it was Animal Farm. So for the longest time I've had this image of a horse dying burned into my memory and only just recently learned it was from the Animal Farm cartoon made in the 80s.

It's actually really difficult to review Animal Farm because it is a classic and loved by so many people. The one thing I've found with all of George Orwell's books (not just Animal Farm) is that they feel very modern. It's almost eerie in a way, how he managed to write a book 60 years ago that still feels relevant to modern day.

I mean really all I can say about this is it's a George Orwell. It's very good. It's definitely worth a read (it's really short too so you should be able to finish it in one sitting). It's the kind of book I would have enjoyed learning about in school (and I am a little surprised to be saying that). But it's a book I would love to learn more about.

It's actually really interesting now seeing how many times Animal Farm is referenced in modern culture. And please tell me I'm not the only one who noticed the similarities between this and Babe. Though I suppose it would be that Babe was based on Animal Farm? But it was still interesting to see the “evil” pigs in Animal Farm and how Babe turned that idea upside down. Also I can't help but notice both had dumb sheep who repeat a single sentence (I'm not trying to make a point with that I just thought it was funny).

One last thing to mention, there is a moment in Animal Farm close to the beginning where Old Major talks about the animals being taken away to abattoirs when they are of no use to the farmer anymore. And I'm being totally serious when I say that it made me seriously think about becoming a vegetarian. I know that if I want a cheeseburger a cow had to die for that, I'm not naive or anything, but I suppose I never really thought about it before. So Animal Farm might have turned me into a vegetarian. I'm sure that was not George Orwell's aim with this book but yeah. It happened.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It draws you in from the very first page and tells a heartbreaking story of a family with an autistic son. One thing I found really interesting what that though this story is about a child with autism, it's really more about the father and how he copes with a child who is unable to talk and look after himself.

This book is an emotional rollercoaster from the very beginning and it's a rollercoaster you won't want to get off. Once you're introduced to Jonah you become fascinated with this life he lives and you won't want to put the book down till the story is over.

However my one tiny complaint about this book would be that the ending dragged on quite a bit. I assumed that the story would conclude with the results of Jonah's tribunal, but it did not. The father still had some issues to work through (because it really is the father's story). But I did feel that it had been tacked on at the end life an afterthought after what felt like the natural conclusion to the story.

But this still managed to be a very enjoyable read. I've seen it compared to The Storied Life of AJ Fikry and The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time (though I haven't read either of those so can't verify those claims). Either way this is a story that is definitely worth a read.

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.

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

I don't normally read books like this. I know some people enjoy reading scary books, but I am not one of them. However World War Z was something I decided to read after watching the film version. And to be honest I only watched that as I wanted to see Glasgow all done up as Philadelphia.

So even though World War Z turned out to be a terrible movie, the book was brilliant (which made the movie even more disappointing). The book is written as a series of interviews compiled by the narrator which tells the story of the global war against zombies. It begins with the first recorded infection and ends with the clear up of North America and the world's slow return to normality while still dealing with the remaining zombie hordes.

One of the things I enjoyed most about the book was the fact that there was no simple cure for the zombie virus. In fact a large portion of the book focuses on how the US Army adapt to fighting an enemy that don't plan and work entirely on instinct. This means that their normal tactics are totally ineffective and they also have the added problem of every dead soldier means one more zombie to kill.

The book focuses on the short sightedness of humans. It makes you think about what you would do in the same situation. It makes you realise the terrifying nature of humanity. It shows how people will do anything, even kill others, if it means saving their own lives. And it annoys me that the film ignored all this in favour of Brad Pitt travelling the world looking for a cure. In my opinion the only similarity between the book and film is that they share the same name.

In conclusion, the book is very good and I would have quite happily read another 300 pages of zombie apocalypse goodness. However the movie was a giant pile of poop. Avoid if possible.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I have said many times that I don't like romance in YA and I have to take that statement back because I loved this book and it's a YA love story set in the Star Wars universe. Actually this is more like a Romeo and Juliette story. You have two kids from the same planet who aren't supposed to be friends because of reasons. They end up being friends anyway and both go to Coruscant to join the Imperial Academy.

The thing I really loved about this book is that you get to see the original movies from a different perspective. You see how even the Imperials are shocked when Alderaan is destroyed. And when the rebels are celebrating their victory at Yavin 5 you see the Imperials mourning for the friends they lost on the Death Star.

My favourite thing was seeing the rebellion side of the story and how everyone is confused by this Calrissian guy who has been made general for no apparent reason. You also get to see what they think of that Luke Skywalker guy who seems to think he is big deal.

Of course our main characters have their own story which I don't want to give away. I will say however that it's nice to see that their story has nothing to do with the original movies but there are moments where the two converge quite nicely. Basically out of all the Star Wars books that have been released recently this is a must read. Especially if you're curious about the downed Star Destroyer on Jakku at the start of The Force Awakens.