Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

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105. Act of Will by A. J. Hartley
Publication: Tor Books; Reprint edition (April 1, 2010), ebook, 384pp / ISBN 0765360888
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Action

Read: August 26-30, 2011
Source: Bought

Mini-Review

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. At first I thought it was a comedy story, something like a Terry Pratchett book. Then it turned into something else, something more like…I don’t know. A Megan Whalen Turner book? (Only not YA.) And then I stopped trying to compare it to other books and just enjoyed the story.

It’s a great story, very entertaining and yet also kind of heartbreaking. Will’s an interesting protagonist. If this were a different kind of book, I’m pretty sure Will would be the sidekick character that dies a manly death somewhere in the second act which then spurs on everyone else to kick butt and save the day. He’s clever, but in the stupid way that unwordly people tend to be. He’s funny, but also kind of sleazy and gross. He’s more brains than brawn and should by all rights be a dead man walking in a swords-and-sorcery fantasy book, but he’s NOT dead. And best of all? He actually starts to use his brains in such a way that makes him a) less annoying and b) less likely to die a cowardly death. (Although he’s still a coward.)

Anyway. Act of Will: a great book with an unusual, near-unlikable protagonist and some fantastic secondary characters. I really enjoyed it.

Rating

I really like unusual protagonists, what can I say?

111. The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1 by PJ Haarsma
Publication: Candlewick (April 6, 2010), ebook, 262pp / ISBN 076363638X
Genre: MG/YA Sci-fi

Read: September 5, 2011
Source: Freebie

Mini-Review

This started off somewhat rocky, with a scenario that seriously reminded me of some other YA sci-fi books I’ve read before (hello). And yeah, it’s kind of unimaginative in that regard. But! The rest of it was pretty good. I like sci-fi novels with actual aliens in them, and I like YA novels with kids that save the world (or a world) against all odds. It makes for an entertaining book, you know?

And the last half of the book was really good. It was exciting, and scary, and there were computer-y things which were really fun. The alien world was scary and weird, but also pretty fascinating. I do wish there had been more secondary characters that weren’t humans, but I’m hoping there’s more aliens in the next book. I just really like aliens, you guys.

Rating

Starts off a bit boring, gets more interesting pretty quick.

114. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
Publication: Puffin (April 1, 2002), originally published 1998, ?pp / ISBN 0142301655
Genre: YA Fiction

Read: September 18, 2011
Source: Library Book Sale

Mini-Review

I feel like I’ve read quite a few books with pregnant teens in them this year. Anyway– this is the second Sarah Dessen book I’ve ever read, my first being Keeping the Moon. I like Keeping the Moon better than this one, but Someone Like You was still pretty good.

The characters were a bit cliched, yeah. I mean, can’t there ever be a redheaded person who ISN’T named Scarlett who is really popular and also a firecracker and so on? You know? But for all that Scarlett plays a big part in SLY, it’s really Halley who’s the protagonist and who does all the growing up.

I really like coming-of-age novels, even if they almost always happen because of sex/dating/etc. I kind of wish there were more where romance wasn’t involved, just for something different, but I can understand why romance plays such a big part. The romance in Someone Like You was pretty good, too– understated, but exciting/important, and a bit scary. And, even though I had to read about it on Wikipedia because I forgot about it, I really liked the ending. It’s happy, but not cliched happy, if you know what I mean.

Rating

I really liked it at the time, but now I can’t even remember the ending. So it’s 4 birds, but with a caveat: good, but forgettable.