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REVIEW: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Posted by Anastasia on April 18, 2012 12 Responses »

Apr 182012

057. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Publication: Candlewick; Reprint edition (October 18, 2010), ebook, 479pp / ISBN 0763645761
Genre: YA Sci-fi, Horror

Read: March 27, 2012
Source: Bought

Series: The Knife of Never Letting Go (you’re here!) | The Ask and the Answer | Monsters of Men

Summary from Amazon:

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him — something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn’t she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd’s gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

Review

Don’t you just love it when the stars align and you’re finally able to get a book that you’ve been wanting to read (and that other people have been telling you to read) for ages and then you read it and it’s amazing? I do! And that’s what happened with The Knife of Never Letting Go. Continue reading »

REVIEW: Law of the Broken Earth by Rachel Neumeier

Posted by Anastasia on April 13, 2012 No Responses »

Apr 132012

059. Law of the Broken Earth by Rachel Neumeier
Publication: Orbit (December 1, 2010), ebook, 468pp / ISBN 0316079936
Genre: Fantasy

Read: March 29-30, 2012
Source: Freebie

Series: Lord of the Changing Winds | Land of the Burning Sands | Law of the Broken Earth (you’re here!)

Summary from Amazon:

In Feierabiand, in the wide green Delta, far from the burning heat of the griffin’s desert, Mienthe’s peaceful life has been shaken. Tan – clever, cynical, and an experienced spy – has brought a deadly secret out of the neighboring country of Linularinum.

Now, as three countries and two species rush toward destruction, Mienthe fears that even her powerful cousin Bertaud may be neither able nor even willing to find a safe path between the secret Linularinum would kill to preserve and the desperate ferocity of the griffins. But can Mienthe?

And, in the end, will Tan help her . . . or do everything in his power to stand in her way?

Review

Like the second book, this one has GREAT characters. Mienthe, my favorite, actually reminds me a lot of Kes. She’s shy, and quiet, and prone to being overlooked. But she doesn’t stay that way, and the change comes from within rather than via an outside force. Continue reading »

REVIEW: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Posted by Anastasia on April 9, 2012 4 Responses »

Apr 092012

058. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Publication: Scholastic Press (June 1, 2010), ebook, 404pp / ISBN 0439023491
Genre: YA Sci-fi

Read: March 28-29, 2012
Source: Bought

Series: The Hunger Games | Catching Fire (you’re here!) | Mockingjay

Summary from Amazon:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

This review contains spoilers.

Review

I think I was pretty lucky with Catching Fire, because I liked it way more than the first book. I didn’t just like it because it fixed a lot of the problems I had with The Hunger Games– I liked it because it showed Katniss growing as a person (albeit not in the more usual positive way that character growth tends to go), it introduced the rebellion factor, and there are way more interesting characters to read about. The pacing was faster, probably because there was less backstory to get through. And, unlike THG, in this one I think Katniss was more aware of her emotions, especially in regards to other people.

However, despite the fact that I ended up rating it 4.5 birds, I REALLY INTENSELY DISLIKED how stupid Katniss was for the majority of the story. Continue reading »

The Sunday Salon (Apr. 8): Rereading for fun and profit

Posted by Anastasia on April 8, 2012 11 Responses »

Apr 082012

I’ve been rereading a good amount of books this year– way more than I did last year, anyway. And I’ve remembered something: rereading is fun! And I don’t just mean rereading something I’d read just the year before: going back to books I first read two+ years ago is almost a magical experience. It’s fun to revisit places and people and stories that I loved once upon a time. I tend to have a very good memory for books and their plots, but I don’t remember everything. Rediscovering why I loved a book in the first place is almost better than reading them for the first time! Plus, there’s always the chance that I’ll catch some new nuance or something that I missed before. Continue reading »

REVIEW: Land of the Burning Sands by Rachel Neumeier

Posted by Anastasia on April 6, 2012 3 Responses »

Apr 062012

056. Land of the Burning Sands by Rachel Neumeier
Publication: Orbit (June 1, 2010), ebook, 481pp / ISBN 0316072796
Genre: Fantasy

Read: March 25-26, 2012
Source: Bought

Series: Lord of the Changing Winds | Land of the Burning Sands (you’re here!) | Law of the Broken Earth

Summary from Amazon:

Gereint Enseichen of Casmantium knows little and cares less about the recent war in which his king tried to use griffins and fire to wrest territory from the neighboring country of Feierabiand…but he knows that his kingdom’s unexpected defeat offers him a chance to escape from his own servitude.

But now that the griffins find themselves in a position of strength, they are not inclined to forgive and the entire kingdom finds itself in deadly peril. Willing or not, Gereint will find himself caught up in a desperate struggle between the griffins and the last remaining Casmantian mage. Even the strongest gifts of making and building may not prove sufficient when the fiery wind of the griffins begins to bury the life of Casmantium beneath the burning sands…

Review

This book is one of those rare second-in-a-trilogy books that’s actually BETTER than the first book. The first book suffered from boring characters and an uneven pacing; this second book has FABULOUS characters and really excellent pacing. All the problems from the first book were resolved, and I think it basically redeemed the entire series for me.

The best thing about the Griffin Mage trilogy is the characters. Even Kes, who I didn’t enjoy reading about, is an interesting character. All the protagonists have layers upon layers, and even the secondary or tertiary characters have some depth to them. They’re just really neat people, the sort of people I enjoy following around for a few hours at a time. The only people who didn’t have any depth were the slave owners, which I think makes a definite point since mainly every other baddie gets at least some humanization/redemption thing. The slave owners? Did not. Continue reading »

REVIEW: Lord of the Changing Winds by Rachel Neumeier

Posted by Anastasia on April 3, 2012 7 Responses »

Apr 032012

055. Lord of the Changing Winds by Rachel Neumeier
Publication: Orbit (May 1, 2010), ebook, 401pp / ISBN 0316072788
Genre: Fantasy

Read: March 24, 2012
Source: Bought

Series: Lord of the Changing Winds (you’re here!) | Land of the Burning Sands | Law of the Broken Earth

Summary from Amazon:

Little ever happens in the quiet villages of peaceful Feierabiand. The course of Kes’ life seems set: she’ll grow up to be an herb-woman and healer for the village of Minas Ford, never quite fitting in but always more or less accepted. And she’s content with that path — or she thinks she is. Until the day the griffins come down from the mountains, bringing with them the fiery wind of their desert and a desperate need for a healer. But what the griffins need is a healer who is not quite human . . . or a healer who can be made into something not quite human.

Review

I probably would have never bought this book if a) I hadn’t got the third one for free and b) this one plus the second one was on sale in an omnibus version a few years ago when c) I was flush with money and buying books wily-nily. There’s just something about the cover and summary that doesn’t really speak to me, you know? Luckily, however, it’s been so long since I originally purchased them¹ I’d completely forgotten about the summary and the cover and basically everything that originally turned me off from reading it.²

So I went into it fresh! And I’m glad I did, because I think this is the sort of book that, if you have a lot of preconceived notions about it, you’ll end up disappointed or annoying. It’s about griffins, yes, and mages, yes, but not in the usual way. Continue reading »

REVIEW: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Posted by Anastasia on April 2, 2012 13 Responses »

Apr 022012

054. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Publication: Scholastic Paperbacks (September 1, 2009), ebook, 388pp / ISBN 0439023483
Genre: YA Sci-fi

Read: March 23, 2012
Source: Bought

Series: The Hunger Games (you’re here!) | Catching Fire | Mockingjay

Summary from Amazon:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Review

I put off reading the Hunger Games trilogy for YEARS, mainly because I’m one of those people who want to read a book in opposite proportion to how many other people love it. Everyone went NUTS over this series from the get-go, and for some reason that meant I didn’t want to read it. It’s almost like if I didn’t discover a thing first, I didn’t want to know about it! Which is hilarious, because usually when I DO finally read the thing I didn’t want to read because it was “too popular,” I end up loving it. So. Continue reading »