REVIEW: Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder

 Posted by Anastasia on December 5, 2011  4 Responses »
Dec 052011
 
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156. Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder
Publication: Harlequin Teen (March 30, 2010), ebook, 320pp / ISBN 037321006X
Genre: YA Sci-fi, Dystopia

Read: November 26-28, 2011
Source: Singapore National Library

Summary from Amazon:

“Imagine every space in this room filled with people. Constantly being jostled and pushed. In the lower levels there is no quiet place. No peace. To a scrub, this room is paradise.”

I drew a deep breath. I’d spoken more in one burst to this stranger whose room I’d invaded than anyone else in weeks. And with a single word he could alert the Pop Cops and send me to the Chomper. We stared at each other for a few heartbeats.

Before I could retreat he said, “My name’s Riley Narelle Ashon. Any time you need peace, you’re welcome to use my hideaway.”

I’m Trella. I’m a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I’ve got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.

Review

Let’s be honest here: I was disappointed with this book. After the amazingness that was Storm Glass, I expected something similar with Inside Out, only dystopian-y and more sci-fi than fantasy. While the basic story is good, and while the characters aren’t terrible, I just don’t think that Inside Out is the same level of awesomeness that Storm Glass is. Continue reading »

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 2/5, Age Group, Dystopia, Fiction, New (Birds), Note, Rating, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Teen, YA

MINI-REVIEWS: Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel, Boxer, Beetle, The Dollhouse Murders

 Posted by Anastasia on November 18, 2011  5 Responses »
Nov 182011
 
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129. Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel by A.B. Sina
Publication: First Second (September 2, 2008), Paperback, 208pp / ISBN 1596432071
Genre: Historical Fantasy, Graphic Novel

Read: October 22, 2011
Source: Bought | Buy your own copy at Amazon.

Mini-Review

Things this book has: pretty graphics, lovely coloring, a very confusing story and vaguely interesting historical fantasy/magical realism stuff.

Basically I have no idea re:what the Prince of Persia video games are about, but I do know there’s time travel and princesses who need rescuing. The graphic novel has one princess (I think she’s a princess, anyway), who basically rescues herself, so that’s cool. But there’s no time travel and I have no idea if the story is actually related to the video games or if they just have the same characters. I don’t even know if that’s important– but I do know that I was seriously confused for most of the book and though I loved looking at the pretty pretty peacock I wish I understood wtf was actually going on and how it relates to the whole Prince of Persia franchise.

Rating


Pretty drawings, confusing story.

132. Boxer, Beetle by Ned Beauman
Publication: Bloomsbury USA; Reprint edition (September 13, 2011), Paperback, 256pp / ISBN 1608196801
Genre: Fiction/Historical Fiction

Read: October 25, 2011
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers | Buy your own copy at Amazon.

Mini-Review

Things this book has: a gay Jewish boxer, Nazis, people who collect Nazi memorabilia without actually being Nazis themselves, a gay(?) eugenicicist, a deficit of decent female characters, some excellent historical fiction stuff, and an enthralling writing style that ties all the weird stuff together in such a way that it’s somehow both entertaining and not at all confusing.

What I liked best about Boxer, Beetle was how it felt like your standard literary fiction story written by a dude, but it managed to skip all the annoying stuff lit fic mostly does. There’s sex, but it wasn’t disgusting (for all that it was often degrading to whoever was having it). There’s weirdo loser protagonists, but they weren’t SO weirdo loser that I wouldn’t sit next to them on a bus, for instance. The ending is depressing but that actually doesn’t annoy me all that much, and the rest of the story is so entertaining that it almost makes up for only having one female character who gets a shot at the POV train.

Rating


I liked it a lot!

134. The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright
Publication: Live Oak Media (September 1998), originally published 1983(?), Paperback, 149pp / ISBN 0874995205
Genre: Children’s Horror

Read: October 27, 2011
Source: Library Book Sale | Buy your own copy at Amazon.

Mini-Review

Things this book has: haunted dollhouses, a murder mystery (sort of), interesting family dynamics, seriously dated and/or cheesy dialogue/writing.

I’ve been meaning to read this book for years, and now that I’ve done it I can’t see what the big deal it. Yes, it’s scary (especially if you’re afraid of ghosts, like I am). Yes, it’s got a nice family relationship thing in it. But other than that it’s really, really, 1980s in both writing style and feel (in a bad way), and I think that most people who adore it are remembering it through a haze of nostalgia.

Rating


Meh.

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 2/5, 4/5, Age Group, Children's, Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, GLBTQ, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Magical Realism, New (Birds), Note, Rating, Reviews

REVIEW: The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham

 Posted by Anastasia on October 28, 2011  10 Responses »
Oct 282011
 
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120. The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham
Publication: Doubleday (1961), originally published 1938, Hardcover, 255pp
Genre: Mystery

Read: October 9-11, 2011
Source: Library Book Sale

Summary from here:

No scandal attaches to the actress Georgia Wells. You couldn’t call her a man-eater – not exactly – but other women are wary when she looks at their men. Especially the fashion designer Valentine Ferris, who happens to be Albert Campion’s sister. Val and Alan Dell are very much in love, but things change when Georgia comes on the scene. And then Georgia’s second husband is poisoned, and there is strange news of his predecessor. The Observer said: ‘To Albert Campion has fallen the honour of being the first detective to figure in a story which is also a distinguished novel.’

Review

I’ve read at least two other Campion books before, but it’s been so long since I did so that I can’t really remember anything about them. I’ve also seen a bit of the Campion TV show, but all I can remember from that is Peter Davison’s moon face in horrible glasses. So, really, when I started reading The Fashion in Shrouds, I didn’t expect anything except for a decent mystery and possibly some humor.

Well, yes, there was a mystery. And yes, there was some humor. And if I ignore how utterly repulsed I felt by a lot of the book I’d say it was a pretty good story. But I was repulsed and I’m still feeling pretty repulsed, and because of that I’m really unhappy with this book. Continue reading »

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 2/5, Fiction, Mystery/Detective, New (Birds), Rating, Reviews

MINI-REVIEWS: The 14th Dalai Lama and Gandhi manga biographies

 Posted by Anastasia on October 5, 2011  4 Responses »
Oct 052011
 
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Click on the book cover to go to its Amazon page.

Book cover of the 14th Dalai Lama: a manga biography 116. The 14th Dalai Lama: A Manga Biography by Tetsu Saiwai
Publication: Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition (September 28, 2010), Paperback, 208pp / ISBN 0143118153
Genre: Children’s/MG Graphic Novel, Biography

Read: September 29, 2011
Source: Publisher (thank you!)

Review

It’s always difficult to compress a person’s life story into a book that’s less than 200 pages, but The 14th Dalai Lama: A Manga Biography made a decent effort. It highlights the important parts of the Dalai Lama’s life, from childhood to adulthood, and it gives a good overview of the situation with Tibet and China. The art was nice, if not overly detailed, and the writing was pretty compelling. Maybe some scenes were a little melodramatic, but they kept the story from getting boring.

I do have some issues with other aspects of the book, though. There’s no info on who translated the book, there are no page numbers, and the pages have been flipped. I’m guessing the flipping happened because it’s easier for people who aren’t familiar with manga to read, but why the exclusion of the page numbers? Why no translator info? It’s just weird.

Rating


Not the best manga ever, but it’s pretty good.

Book cover of Gandhi: A Manga Biography 117. Gandhi: A Manga Biography by Kazuki Ebine
Publication: Penguin (Non-Classics) (September 27, 2011), Paperback, 192pp / ISBN 0143120247
Genre: Children’s/MG Graphic Novel, Biography

Read: September 29, 2011
Source: Publisher (thank you!)

Review

Since I enjoyed The 14th Dalai Lama I was hoping for something similar with this one, but unfortunately it’s not that good. There’s still the same issue with compressing 70 or so years into less than 200 pages, but I think The 14th Dalai Lama‘s author did a better job at doing it. Gandhi‘s author put emphasis on the world-changing parts of Gandhi’s life, sure, but he skipped over a lot of the personally important parts. The 14th Dalai Lama has bits with the Dalai Lama’s family, and his friends, etc., and it makes for a more compelling story. With Gandhi, almost all that personal stuff is either skipped over or visualized with maybe one page, and it made his story feel very cold. I don’t think the stilted dialogue helped, either.

Like The 14th Dalai Lama, there are no page numbers or info about the translator, and the pages are flipped. Even worse, however, are the multiple errors in the text, including a misspelling of “perhaps.” There also isn’t any punctuation except for exclamation and question marks, which makes reading it pretty terrible. The art is also less interesting than in The 14th Dalai Lama, which, considering how light on the details that one was, is saying something.

Rating


Good for the very basics of Gandhi’s life, but it’s got mediocre art and questionable copy-editing.

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 1/5, 2/5, Age Group, Biography, Children's, Graphic Novel, MG, New (Birds), Non-fiction, Note, Rating, Reviews

REVIEW: Skyship Academy: The Pearl Wars by Nick James

 Posted by Anastasia on September 12, 2011  4 Responses »
Sep 122011
 
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107. Skyship Academy: The Pearl Wars by Nick James
Publication: Flux (September 8, 2011), Paperback ARC, ~300pp / ISBN 073872341X
Genre: YA Sci-fi

Read: September 1-3, 2011
Source: BEA 2011

Summary from Amazon:

A devastated Earth’s last hope is found in Pearls: small, mysterious orbs that fall from space and are capable of supplying enough energy to power entire cities. Battling to control the Pearls are the Skyship dwellers—political dissidents who live in massive ships in the Earth’s stratosphere—and the corrupt Surface government.

Jesse Fisher, a Skyship slacker, and Cassius Stevenson, a young Surface operative, cross paths when they both venture into forbidden territory in pursuit of Pearls. Their chance encounter triggers an unexpected reaction, endowing each boy with remarkable—and dangerous—abilities that their respective governments would stop at nothing to possess.

Enemies thrust together with a common goal, Jesse and Cassius make their way to the ruins of Seattle to uncover the truth about their new powers, the past they didn’t know they shared, and a shocking secret about the Pearls.

Review

In one of my Thursday Tea posts I mentioned that I was worried this book was going in a direction that a) had been done many, many times before and b) I could see from a mile away. And that direction? Yeah, I was totally right. To be fair, it had a kind of twist to it that I wasn’t expecting, and that made things a bit more interesting. But on the whole this first Skyship Academy book was way more lackluster than I expected it to be. Continue reading »

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 2/5, Action, Age Group, Dystopia, Fiction, New (Birds), Note, Psychic Abilities, Rating, Reviews, Sci-Fi, YA

REVIEW: The Postmortal by Drew Magary

 Posted by Anastasia on August 30, 2011  6 Responses »
Aug 302011
 
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104. The Postmortal by Drew Magary
Publication: Penguin (Non-Classics) (August 30, 2011), Paperback, 384pp / ISBN 0143119826
Genre: Fiction (Sci-fi, sort of)

Read: August 27-28, 2011
Source: Publisher (thank you!)

Summary from B&N:

John Farrell is about to get “The Cure.”
Old age can never kill him now.
The only problem is, everything else still can . . .

Imagine a near future where a cure for aging is discovered and-after much political and moral debate-made available to people worldwide. Immortality, however, comes with its own unique problems-including evil green people, government euthanasia programs, a disturbing new religious cult, and other horrors. Witty, eerie, and full of humanity, The Postmortal is an unforgettable thriller that envisions a pre-apocalyptic world so real that it is completely terrifying.

Review

You know how The Magicians is basically like a “literary fantasy” novel? Well, The Postmortal is basically like a “literary sci-fi” novel, and it knows it. I mostly enjoyed reading The Postmortal– it was scary and kind of exciting and also really disgusting, in a way– but it had this self-awareness to it that I didn’t like. Continue reading »

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 2/5, Contemporary Fiction, Dystopia, Fiction, New (Birds), Rating, Reviews, Sci-Fi

REVIEW: Sirenz by Charlotte Bennardo & Natalie Zaman

 Posted by Anastasia on August 17, 2011  1 Response »
Aug 172011
 
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75. Sirenz by Charlotte Bennardo & Natalie Zaman
Publication: Flux (June 8, 2011), Paperback, 288pp / ISBN 0738723193
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Read: July 16, 2011
Source: BEA 2011

Summary from Amazon:

Bickering frenemies Meg and Shar are doing some serious damage at a midnight sample sale when the fashionistas find themselves arguing over a pair of shoes-with fatal consequences. One innocent bystander later, the girls are suddenly at the mercy of Hades, Lord of the Underworld himself. To make them atone for what they’ve done, Hades forces the teens to become special-assignment Sirens, luring to the Underworld an individual whose unholy contract is up.

Finding that delicate balance between their fashion addiction and their new part-time job in the eternal hellfire biz turns out to be harder than Meg and Shar expected, especially when an entire pantheon of Greek deities decides to get involved. Then there’s the matter of the fine print in their own contracts…

Review

I feel really bad for not liking this book more, because the authors were SO nice at BEA and I really wanted to enjoy reading their book. The basic premise of the book is okay– I mean, I like Greek mythology and it’s done in an interesting/up-to-date way in Sirenz, so that’s nice. Also, it’s set in NYC and there’s fashion things and, really, it’s not a terrible book. It’s not. It’s just also really confusing.

I think the problem stems from the fact that a) it’s got a heavy emphasis on fashion, and b) it’s also trying to be a paranormal romance/action/friendship is awesome! book. For the most part, it’s cute and funny and it’s totally a beach read. I mean, it got a SHOE on the cover! However, it’s also not your stereotypical paranormal romance while at the SAME TIME being a stereotypical shoe-on-the-cover book. And that made it a bit confusing. Continue reading »

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 2/5, Age Group, Beach Reads, Fantasy, Fiction, New (Birds), Note, Paranormal, Rating, Reviews, Romance, Teen
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