It’s not often I laugh while reading books. I remember last time I laughed aloud while reading. I was eleven years old, nose jammed between the pages It’s not often I laugh while reading books. I remember last time I laughed aloud while reading. I was eleven years old, nose jammed between the pages of ‘Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging’ and I was in a silent library. The rest of the class were perfectly silent. I, on the other hand, had tears running down my face and I was laughing hysterically like a mule. My English teacher, a stern and austere woman came over and had words. I spent the rest of the lesson in silence, not reading.
Good Omens was a far superior experience. No scary English teacher breathing down my neck, and more laughs per minute. I even read it super slowly to conserve the specialness. This is without a doubt the funniest book I’ve ever read. I often scan my book shelf, and find it void of comedy – and mostly full of sad books. I’m not a sad person but I often find ‘comedy’ or ‘funny’ books to be drastically unfunny. The genius of Sir Terry and Neil Gaiman is fucking amazing. ‘Good Omens’ is a laugh out loud book, with fabulous characters such as Anathema Device, Adam, Crowley and Aziraphale. It is so cleverly told, you don’t realise two people wrote this book together. It reads like one person wrote it. There’s no jarring, off putting difference between Gaiman and Pratchett’s styles.
Good Omens is a fantastic, hilarious book. ...more
This book is told in a documentary style, with im chat messages, emails, skype interviews and more. The book flits around a lot of POVs, I’d say at leThis book is told in a documentary style, with im chat messages, emails, skype interviews and more. The book flits around a lot of POVs, I’d say at least fifty. Therefore it is impossible to focus on character development or characters even during the course of this novel. Therefore, this book is the literary version of marmite.
However, I really enjoyed it and whizzed through it in a matter of days. The book was suspenseful with quite literally a new twist and turn at the end of each interview. I didn’t think the lack of characters (whom you could latch on to) was a bad thing. I was so intrigued by the plot and what was going to happen I didn’t mind the lack of characterisation. Although the lack of characterisation made it less scary than perhaps intended, that was lucky for me as I’m not a great fan of the ol’ horror genre. To be honest, I loved the style, and I felt the book within a book within a book concept clever.
I felt that each character was unique in the way they spoke and I hardly got confused between who was talking. I was marvelled over how much research had clearly gone into this book. It was interesting how the characters from USA, UK, Japan and South Africa read differently, and they clearly fitted into their respective geographical locations.
Despite how much I enjoyed reading this book, I was still very confused at the end. There was no real explanation to what happened. It felt like the book should have naturally ended here, but instead there’s going to be a sequel!? Ah well, probably going to read that anyway. ...more
The Tinderbox, by Hans Christian Anderson is not one of his well-known tales, like ‘The Little Mermaid’, but the story is amazingly captivating. SallyThe Tinderbox, by Hans Christian Anderson is not one of his well-known tales, like ‘The Little Mermaid’, but the story is amazingly captivating. Sally Gardner and David Roberts create a beautiful, haunting version. Its illustrations are mesmerising and the story is told very well, without need of great embellishment. I was not disappointed....more
Patrick Ness is certainly in the higher echelons of YA writers, along with John Green and JK. Adults can read his books without the –shock, horror- o Patrick Ness is certainly in the higher echelons of YA writers, along with John Green and JK. Adults can read his books without the –shock, horror- of reading a YA book. This is literally the best book I’ve read all year. Its twists and turns are unpredictable, characters real and interesting, and it is written so well that it felt like someone was reading it to me. A better realised version of the Matrix....more
Harper is a murderer- a serial killer. And after finding the House, which enables him to move in time throughout the 20th century to kill ‘The ShiningHarper is a murderer- a serial killer. And after finding the House, which enables him to move in time throughout the 20th century to kill ‘The Shining Girls’, he snatches up that opportunity. Kirby is the one that got away. She survives, and it’s up to her to find her killer.
I thought this was an exceptionally good premise and plot – a time-travelling murderer. It was intriguing to me, and it seemed very original, a blend of fantasy and crime that I had not come across before. Beukes’ writing is very accessible, and I thought each different voice was well stylised. She definitely got a good sense of time and place.
Kirby was my favourite character, she was likeable, yet feisty and she knew exactly what she wanted and how to get it. She was smart, and although she was rude a lot of the time she was a very strong female lead.
However, I thought if it weren’t for the time-travelling element, Harper would’ve been caught very quickly. He wasn’t a very interesting murderer. He was a psychopath, but he wasn’t clever or interesting. There was no real reason he killed people, apart from the fact he enjoyed it. I felt he maybe needed a little more depth or something in his character to make him more interesting. I also wanted to know why these girls were ‘the shining girls’ unfortunately, that’s never explained. Neither was the House. I really didn't understand the House. Or how the time-travel worked, the rules were never explained:
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I mean, like in Doctor Who were there any fixed points in time? Could there be any repercussions?
Although, I did really like this book, and would recommend it to those looking for an interesting and original plot. ...more
Eddie is rescued from an abusive home from a young age. Anne Fine’s Blood Family discusses the Nature Vs Nurture debate.
I really enjoyed this book. I Eddie is rescued from an abusive home from a young age. Anne Fine’s Blood Family discusses the Nature Vs Nurture debate.
I really enjoyed this book. I personally felt that Eddie and Alice were the best characters in the book. Eddie was relatable (and you just wanted to give him a hug), while Alice seemed to be the sensible one, and I loved her for always trying to help Eddie and Lucy. I really liked the split narrative, I thought it really gave dimension to this story, and the different voices were done quite well. However, Fine’s writing in this book was somewhat lacking. I struggled to imagine what Eddie looked like. There was literally no description of him whatsoever. I tried to picture him as an older version of the boy on the front cover with curly blond hair, blue eyes and, for some reason, plaid shirts. However, this image of a quite a cute yet studious boy jarred awfully with the fact that he looked like Harris. Come to think of it, I barely knew what Harris looked like. I felt a little odd after reading this as I couldn’t really picture the main character.
Despite the writing being somewhat lacking, I really enjoyed this book and I read it in one day. I would recommend it. ...more
So, Lucy, what’s you’re opinion on this book?... ‘Ngh nghg nghg’ I groan. I do admit, I either sound like a five year old or an aged cat or a monster.So, Lucy, what’s you’re opinion on this book?... ‘Ngh nghg nghg’ I groan. I do admit, I either sound like a five year old or an aged cat or a monster. But this is how I feel about ‘Clockwork Angel,’ – it’s just so ‘meh’ (or ‘ngh ngh’).
The ‘Clockwork Angel,’ was pleasingly a lot better than TMI (which, by book 3, I struggled to finish). Its plot was pleasingly fast-paced, the characters slightly more likeable and the Victorian London world an interesting concept.
BUT OTHERWISE. No. I didn’t hate this book; I just have a strong disregard for it.
Reason 1 (of many reasons)
The world. It’s a brilliant concept. A fantastic concept. THE BEST CONCEPT. But alas, it didn’t work very well, despite the brilliant idea of a Steampunk Victorian England, it didn’t work. Most of the language felt very modern, and there was little description that made you really fall into the world. I think perhaps Ms Clare could follow Linda Newberry’s style, (Set in Stone), whose work reads and feels very Victorian–like. I really hoped ‘Clockwork Angel’ would read different from TMI series, so that Ms Clare could have a chance to show us that she knew how to write books in different styles.
This brings us on to reason 1’s sub-point. Accents.
Accents well written excite me like a child waiting for Christmas. Britain has a lot of accents. You’ve got Welsh, Cockney, Cornish, Scottish, Brummie, Yorkshire and many more. Especially in a place like London you’ll get so many accents everywhere. So why didn’t Clare use this to her advantage? She described accents, but she didn’t incorporate much of this into their speech. Another opportunity lost! IIf Will is Welsh (he is Welsh, right?), yet he speaks in Proper English. WHYYYY.
Reason Number Two - Characters
Will. Is that guy meant to be attractive?
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He’s a git. Seriously, one minute he’s fawning over Tessa – next minute he ‘offers’ that they can ‘use her room’. Steady on mate! I just found the ‘I’m such a cad, but underneath I’m loveable’ character a bit used.
Tessa. She cried. She screamed. She looked blankly. Etcetera. I just found her a bit dull, a bit annoying.
[image] Jessamine = a Shame. She could've been a really good character, if she wasn't a jealous bitch.
However, I really did like the character of Jem. HE WAS A REAL GENTLEMAN! I liked his backstory, his personality. He was ‘the boy next door’, but however he’s probably going to get completely disregarded in the love triangle for this very reason.
Reason Number Three (the final reason).
Love Triangles are boring. I really don’t need to go into this one, do I?
I did like reading this book, I found the plot to be generally quite good, and it was something I needed at the time, light with a lot of adventure. ...more
Ok, I'd better admit it now, I'm suffering from a tragic lack of motivation. So, this is my thoughts and feelings about 'Finding Sky' and it probably Ok, I'd better admit it now, I'm suffering from a tragic lack of motivation. So, this is my thoughts and feelings about 'Finding Sky' and it probably will have either atrocious spelling or no memes.
ONTO THE REVIEW!
Ok. I enjoyed this book. There I admited it. It was pretty slushy and the paranormal element was a little (no, a lot)pushed to one side. I just didn't care about the savants or whatever. What captivated me was the romance. It's certainly a little bit on the man-handled side. Sky, our 'herione', was attracted to Zed almost immediately. (Zebidee Time for bed???http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZTBDn...) I am usually very critical of relationships. But hey,I liked it. It had adqete romance (ha. Knew it would be the spelling)It was very nice, very smushy. The brilliant, I feel warm inside smush, without having to concetrate on the characters. I really enjoyed the pacing of this book, and the plot was enough to keep me entertained. I really did like Sky as our narrator. How ever, I have a pet peeve about this.
One: Tragic British and American mistakes. Joss Stirling is British, so the majority of Sky's Britishisms were spot on! (except for 'butt'. Mostly Brits say 'bum'.)But Sky 'inherited' American ways of speech. She started saying 'scoccer' instead of 'football'. There were other occasions where there were a few mistakes (I've watched a fair few British vs. American slang to know that the word 'rubbish' is used mostly by us Brits!).
One of the other things that irritated me was the sterotypical assumption that the American kids had NO IDEA what Wales was. I'm Welsh, and I did find this really offensive, to Americans and Welsh alike. American? Don't have the foggest what Wales is? Oh cry me a river. Just stop reading my review and watch Torchwood....more
Do you like dragons? Yes I like dragons! Do you like super awesome realistic fantasy worlds? Yes! Bring it on! Do you like mysteries? Yeah I like mystDo you like dragons? Yes I like dragons! Do you like super awesome realistic fantasy worlds? Yes! Bring it on! Do you like mysteries? Yeah I like mysteries! Do you like political intrigue? Yeah I like political intrigue! Do you like some romance? Yeah I like some romance! Do you like really beautiful descriptions? Yeah I like really beautiful descriptions! Do you like a fast-paced plot? Yeah I like fast-paced plots!
If yes to all above, you will LOVE Seraphina.
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By Lucy who was far too lazy to write a proper review. ...more
As I received this as a gift, I’m a tad reluctant to write this review. I am immensely grateful for this book as I am hugely aware of the time spent cAs I received this as a gift, I’m a tad reluctant to write this review. I am immensely grateful for this book as I am hugely aware of the time spent choosing the perfect book for a gift. However, I didn’t really enjoy it. Although, there are a few things I did enjoy about this book.
Note: Yes, this book is the final book in a series. However, I read it without reading the other two, and it is completely readable as a standalone book.
What I enjoyed
I enjoyed the plot. It was well written, and it was full of suspense. Sometimes I did guess what was going to happen, but that didn’t effect how much I enjoyed the plot. (Well…I did in the beginning. Later, I was confused, and I didn’t really understand what was going on. And boy, the ending cleared *nothing* up.)
Even though I would tend to skim read the writing (more on that later), I did find the pacing OK, and I did tend to think it was fast-paced.
I did initially like the different characters and the different types of criminals and high-profile people who resided at Comraich Castle. (However, I’ll talk more about the characters later.)
There’s a certain scene which I really did enjoy. It happened about half way during the book, and was perhaps the only really gory scene in the entire book. It was the maggot scene. Oh, how I do love that scene. It’s been done in quite a few horror movies that I’ve seen, but that didn’t deter from how much I really did enjoy reading this scene. (I don’t know, food rapidly turning into maggots and then into flies has some kind of weird allure.)
My edition had James Herbert’s poem, ‘Lara’s Lament’, which I very much enjoyed, so much I read at least twice.
And that’s when the good stuff ends. Sorry, folks. Now let’s get onto the things I really didn’t like.
The scare factor. I’m really bad; I always judge a book by its cover. I didn’t pick this book up for ages because I was pretty sure I’d get scared shitless, because the cover looks pretty chilling. Even on the back, the words ‘ghost hunter’, ‘parapsychologist’, ‘remote’ and ‘secluded’ pretty much spell out the sentence ‘Lucy, this is going to be terrifying.’ And what did I get in this 692 paged extravaganza? Was I so scared I couldn’t sleep? Could I not read it at night? Nope. There was not one bit in the entire book that I even thought ‘Oh this is pretty scary’. There was absolutely no scare whatsoever. And there was a tiny smattering gore. (I got more scared reading Kendare Blake’s ‘Girl of Nightmares’.)
And the characters. I had issues. SO MANY ISSUES. In this ridiculously large book, none of the characters were fleshed out and developed. None of them changed throughout the novel. And even though I did enjoy reading about the different types of people who resided at Comraich, I felt that there was far too many. I lost track of all the characters because they weren’t really characterised. However, I especially hated Delphine, she was such a pointless character, such a Mary-Sue and somehow she was the love-interest. Even the main character, David Ash was a bit lacking in the characterisation department. (I’ll tell you about their relationship later).
The writing was so bad I wanted to cry. There I said it. ‘Ash’ was perhaps one of the most badly written books I have ever read. I do read a lot of YA, and the majority of it is written better than this. Firstly, Herbert feels the need to describe everything. But, things are not described nicely using beautiful language. They’re described using really basic language, and most of the time the things that are described are the people, like the air-hostess. We never ever re-meet her, and she is definitely not an important role in the book. She is only present for maybe 75-100 pages at best. But she is so unnecessarily over-described. Most things I didn’t need to know (or care for). There was an abundance of commas. This is how long a sentence is,
‘Later, when the psychologist was in her proper office on Comraich Castle’s lower ground floor where the medical unit was set, she would enter them into a fresh file, she’d created on her computer, which contained individual records of all her clients’.
THIS SENTENCE IS FAR TOO LONG! Herbert’s writing did painfully remind me of a time when I was eleven, and enthusiastically writing stories. I overused commas and my Children’s Thesaurus was ridiculously well thumbed when I tried to be clever and find synonyms for everything (including the word green), which bamboozled anyone who tried to read it. Luckily, Herbert was a better writer than my 11 year old self, he has a fast paced plot (compared to a none existent one) and no one has had to try and decipher his spelling.
What also irritated about Herbert’s writing was the way he called people not by their full names. He always called David Ash ‘Ash’ which just made me laugh as I thought of the guy off Pokemon. He was also called ‘the Parapsychologist’ or ‘the investigator’. Herbert didn’t just do it with Ash but with all of the characters. It did create a veil between the reader and the characters. I just found it even more difficult to connect with the characters.
I also got annoyed for how long it took to get to the end, and then the end doesn’t even resolve properly! Because everyone needs around 700 pages for the book (with a straightforward plot) to end! However, I did enjoy the plot until we got to the end. I expected all the things to conclude and make sense. They didn’t, so I was confused, and we had no real explanation.
I especially hated the relationship between Delphine and Ash. They get on this plane, and they don’t know each other at all. Yet, that evening they’re passionately making love saying that they love each other? I hate insta-love so much! Their relationship was so cheesy and every time they confessed their love for each other I wanted to throw the book at a wall.
There were two things that I just disagreed with how Herbert handled them, on a moral level.
First is Delphine’s lesbian experience. Three years prior to Ash arriving at Comraich, in a time when Delphine needed comfort she ended up having sex with the head nurse, Rachael Krantz. Three years passed, and Delphine, probably due to her wuss-y nature, or the fact that she is an idiot, she hasn’t had a proper chat with Rachael. She needed to tell her that a) she is not a lesbian, b) the sex was a one off, and c) she is not interested her in a sexual way. Delphine didn’t do this, so when she is having sex with Ash all she can think of is how guilty she is for when she had sex with a woman. OH GIVE ME A BREAK. This also highlights how much I disliked Delphine, and Herbert’s writing gave me the feeling that he thought being gay was wrong. I don’t know if that was just due to Delphine’s guilty-ness or due to the fact that Nurse Krantz was such a horrible bitch. Well that was something that didn’t sit well with me.
I also didn’t like how the mentally-ill people were stuck in the dungeons, and how they were treated. They were called ‘lunatics’ by several people including Ash. It is not 1840, it’s 2013. Both of these things mentioned are quite offensive, so if your going to read it, (even after reading my review), do be aware before you pick this up ...more
Step 1: Add 3 different characters. Each must be a certain type of idiot. 1 must be a naïve idiot 1 musRecipe for ‘This is Not Forgiveness’ cupcakes
Step 1: Add 3 different characters. Each must be a certain type of idiot. 1 must be a naïve idiot 1 must be a bloodthirsty idiot 1 must be a believer in ‘no consequences’ kind of idiot.
Step 2: Add two dashes of hate -ability. Mix. Step 3: Add 100g of anarchy, political beliefs and war. Step 4: Add a few drops of terrorism and extremism. Stir. Step 5: Add a quick paced plot, and put the mix in the oven. On the extreme heat setting. Step 6: Once out of the oven ice with sickly teenage lust and dust with a little love. Serve.
I did quite enjoy this book. Be warned all of the main characters are extremely hate-able. There is no ‘I like this character’. I just stuck around to see if they would come to a sticky end. I liked that the story was plot driven, rather than character driven, as these people were hated by me, and I found Jamie so dull it was almost painful. I liked reading it, and I won’t read it again. I probably won’t recommend it either. ...more
Ok. Ok. I’ll admit- the only reason I bought this book was because of the cover. It is a beautiful cover with a tattoo like picture on the front, withOk. Ok. I’ll admit- the only reason I bought this book was because of the cover. It is a beautiful cover with a tattoo like picture on the front, with curls of gold spiralling off out of it. It also has a matt-shiny finish on it, with patterns of Clubs, Hearts, Diamonds and Spades. The inside is as beautiful as well. There is a Spade or a Club where the page number is located. Each chapter has either an excerpt from ‘Dancing Jacks’ or a picture. So that was the reason I picked this book up. I barely looked at the synopsis.
‘Dancing Jax’ is about a book which literally brainwashes the community of a small seaside town in the UK. It was a very creepy book especially for me as brainwashing or indoctrination is my own personal fear. The fear is that you no longer have absolute control over your life. It’s a very haunting read, so beware if you are someone who gets scared ridiculously easily.
The characters are very well rounded, however sometimes; they do tend to be a little stereotyped and a little clichéd. However, I really did like the majority of the characters, especially Martin Baxter’s references to fantasy and science fiction.
I really did love the concept but sometimes it was a little slow, it took maybe 150 pages for me to get into it. I really did love the sense of fear/ or a chase against time, who would be the next to get affected by this book?
So I really did enjoy this book and now I cannot wait for the sequel, ‘Freax and Rejex’ but I did find a few flaws in the book. ...more
Heart-Shaped Bruise is the kind of book that leaves an impression after you’ve read it. It is a complex story of crime, revenge, madness and fear. It Heart-Shaped Bruise is the kind of book that leaves an impression after you’ve read it. It is a complex story of crime, revenge, madness and fear. It is the story of Emily Koll and why she is a young offender’s institute. It was a brilliantly fast-paced story, with very intricate characters. I don’t really want to go into depth with the plot or characters, as anything I mention now would probably spoil it. (Ok, I’m the kind of person who stops reading the blurb if I think it is too long!) However, I do think that the ending was…predictable. I have an issue with crime books or plot devices that are hanging onto the suspense of you not knowing. This is partly because I will figure it out before the big reveal. In Tamar, and The Pact among a few, I get halfway and I know exactly what was going to happen. Luckily, this can be completely saved by characters. If the characters are good, I will continue to be very interested and the book will still be ‘un-put-down-able’. However, if (like in ‘The Pact,) where the characters didn’t make much of an affect on me, I just got annoyed. Thankfully, ‘Heart-Shaped Bruise’ was saved by the characters. And even though I knew what was going to happen I was still shocked. I would highly recommend this book. ...more
GRRM has done it again. He’s ended the book on a massive cliff-hanger. Now I’m waiting with baited breath till The Winds of Winter.
The Plot
At the begGRRM has done it again. He’s ended the book on a massive cliff-hanger. Now I’m waiting with baited breath till The Winds of Winter.
The Plot
At the beginning of the book, Stannis has left Jon Snow to deal with Roose Bolton at Winterfell. He leaves Jon with Melissandre and his wife. It quickly becomes apparent that the southerners have no idea of the danger of winter, and the Others.
At King’s Landing, Cersei is forced to answer for her crimes by the High Septon.
Across the Narrow Sea, Arya is blind and Tyrion has been forced to be a slave. Daenerys is trying to create peace in Meereen by marring a man she does not love.
Characters
Jon Snow: Jon struggles as Lord Commander on the wall. He creates an uneasy peace between the Night Watchmen and the wildlings. He is possibly the only person on the wall who truly knows the dangers of the others. (view spoiler)[In his last chapter, there is an assassination attempt made on Jon. There are many theories circulating whether he is actually dead. The majority believe that Jon is wounded, but alive. Many think he may warg into Ghost, or Melisandre may bring him back from the dead. If he dies now, his parentage, which GRRM said would be one of the major pillars of the story will not be discovered. (I’m betting on Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark being his parents.) (hide spoiler)]
Cersei: All I can do is an evil laugh. It seems that Cersei is finally getting her comeuppance.
Arya: She really does get more awesome by each of her chapters.
Tyrion: Spent most of the book wondering how he was going to get out of the slave situation. He’s a s cunning as ever.
Daenerys: (view spoiler)[Finally, she may stop trying to broker peace in Meeren! Yay! She needs to get on with it and move towards Westeros. She rides dragons. (hide spoiler)]
Now I need TWOW in my life. A Dance with Dragons part 2 was so much better than part 1. Looking forward to sequel. Favourite Quote:‘They know nothing, Ygritte. And worse they will not learn.’ This quote actually brought tears to my eyes
Favourite Characters from this book: Jon (obviously), Arya, Daenerys and Tyrion....more
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