Book Review: The Raven Boys

There were moments that I really liked The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, but there were just as many moments made me feel like my brain might be oozing out of my ears.

Generally I found the characters & story to be interesting & engaging, however in the end I felt that very little was resolved in this book & this was just another excuse to rope me into reading a series. I was bored by the "forbidden romance" storyline & felt it was completely unnecessary to the plot- is it so hard to just write characters that are friends?

Anyway, I'll eventually get around to reading the sequel- in large part because I liked so many of the characters. I won't rush out for it though because in the end, the plot didn't hold my attention like I wish a book would.  

Review: Me, Earl & the Dying Girl

Well hey- yeah, so it's been a while, huh? My sister actually reminded me I should be doing this.  And maybe she will even join in the fun if I'm lucky- that would be great, right? Fingers crossed. Perhaps there will even be some reviews from the past year that I'll remember to come in & post, but in the meantime, I just finished reading Me, & Earl & the Dying Girl, by Jesse Andrews so I thought the responsible bloggity thing to do would be to toss in a review, right?

If I'm being perfectly honest I got this book from the library because a) the library recommended it to me b) I liked the cover & c) I thought the title was clever.  Basically, I downloaded it knowing nothing about it except for those three things, but mostly I liked the cover. 

And truly, the book is okay- certainly not spectacular, but okay.  Some of the characters are entertaining, there were occasional moments where I even laughed out loud (though those were few) & most of the time, I agree with our main character Greg- he needs to be punched in the eye.  I really did not enjoy all the self-deprecating commentary which makes up a vast majority of the book. 

The story itself is somewhat interesting, but the style of writing grated on my very last nerve. One of the first books in a while that made me say, "yup, I'm too grown up to read this."  My high school self, however, might have really enjoyed this book.

I think I can hear my grey hairs celebrating as I act my age...

Aaron Sorkin: Sound familiar?

I have been a fan of Aaron Sorkin's since Jack Nicholson spat across the big screen at me that I couldn't handle the truth and I was positively hooked after my first viewing of The American President.  The snappy, rapid fire dialogue we've come to know as Sorkin's signature, the witty repartee between characters is certainly why I enjoy his work.  I followed him from Sports Night to West Wing and everything afterward (yes, even Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip). 

I have not watched his latest tv series, The Newsroom, as I don't get the particular channel it airs on, so it was with great amusement that a friend sent me this youtube clip:



Aside from the obvious fact that someone has too much time on their hands, it makes me think that next time I need my Sorkin fix, I think I'll just go back and watch an old episode of Sports Night or West Wing... the song remains the same, no? 

Review: The Rise of Nine

Hmmm- well, first things first, I did like The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore- mostly.

It was what I expected- action, adventure, and in some small ways it moved part of the story, previously told in the Lorien Legacies along but ultimately, it didn't.  I was really loving the book until it ended.  And I mean, it just ended.  To the point where I was turning the page wondering if I had missed something.  Like many series these days I found myself thinking, if "Pittacus Lore" had just written another 100 or so pages and finished the story, it would have been grand. 

I wonder why authors are so afraid to tell a complete story these days?  Are they afraid our attention span can't handle a full tale or a large book?  No- it's greed I think.  More books equal more money and I'm getting quite sick of it.  But I guess that's a rant for another day. 

Anyway, the story itself, as I said before moves along quickly.  The most annoying aspect is the narration jumping between multiple characters- Four, Six, and Seven.  I found this particularly irksome when more than one of them was in the same place together and it often took me several paragraphs to figure out who was speaking as they described what was going on- only when a character spoke about one of the other characters did I figure out which of them was narrating- their voices aren't differentiated enough, unfortunately.  This could have been solved so easily by just putting the character's name at the top of the chapter as so many other authors who alternate point of view often do.  This particular distraction had me often going back to re-read the beginnings of chapters to figure out what, exactly was going on. 

As for the title, The Rise of Nine- I didn't really get it.  Nine was a fun and interested character, but I think a better title would have been, "They Gather" since that's pretty much what happens- it was set up in the previous book as the Garde started to find one another and predictably continues in this book.  Unfortunately it doesn't continue toward any sort of conclusions. 

I will continue with the series, because it's fun to read and I enjoy the action, but if there's no forward motion in the next one, it may lose me. 

Review: Brava, Valentine

I had enjoyed the first book in this series, Very Valentine & was looking forward to this second one in the series (why is it so difficult to find stand-along books these days?).

The characters are still enjoyable (though whinier than I remember) & Trigiani still has a wonderfully descriptive voice- sometimes, a little too much. She can go on & on sometimes, long after my attention span has fizzled out.

Over all, a good sequel though it ends rather abruptly. This book, like it's predecessor is at its best when the entire Angelini/Roncalli clan is together in action- Valentine may be the center of the story, but they are the heart of it.

Review: Under the Never Sky

UNDER THE NEVER SKY by Veronica Rossi is a book that builds slowly, as a book should. By the time it ends, you simply wish it wouldn't

I was going to read it a while back, but when I downloaded the sample, the first chapter reminded me a lot of READY PLAYER ONE, which I had just read and I didn't want to read two similar books right after each other, so I passed. Boy, was I wrong.  Yes, the beginning is set in a similar "alternate reality" sort of environment, but that's really where the similarities end.

Another in the ever-popular dystopian YA genre, this book presents a fusion of future and primitive cultures and it's fun to watch them collide.  The characters are well drawn and fun to get to know, even if we've seen it before (girl starts out weak & scared, but becomes strong and confident while finding herself along the way; boy is a loner who discovers he really does need "someone" to make him feel complete). 

Yet, it doesn't feel like a story you've read before.  There's plenty of action to keep you pulled along and reasons to want to keep reading. 

Some bits were definitely unbelievable, if not laughable- not the least of which was Aria's athletic feats on the journey, injured feet & all, after living a life in which she'd never had to exert herself in the slightest.  I recognize what Rossi was trying to show us about Aria's character and strength, but it was still somewhat ridiculous.

None the less, watching Aria and Perry grown and develop into a team is what makes this book so special.  When I read, it's always about the characters for me, and these characters are great fun to spend time getting to know.  

Overall, it was a fun book and a great way to spend a few hours.  I'm looking forward to the sequel.

Book Review: Fifteen Digits

You know, I'm really good about posting my book reviews on Goodreads & Amazon, but I have no excuse for not posting them here as well, so I'll try to be a bit more diligent...

In an attempt to get the ball rolling, the latest book I read was Fifteen Digits by Nick Santora.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked the writing a lot, I really liked a lot of the characters, however I was frustrated because about a fourth of the way through (if not sooner) it became very obvious where the book was heading. Shortly after that, Santora started telling us what was going to happen before it happened such as, "that was the last time they ever spoke" and other bits of foreshadowing. I hate when authors do that. How about letting us get to the part when one of them dies before we find out that one of them is going to die? 

So, the book had promise, was certainly interesting, but was also extremely frustrating and not very surprising in the end since Santora had already given it much of the story away.

Overall, I gave 3 out of 5 stars.