Book Reviews for funzies
Okay, so I've been reading a lot lately. Most of these will not interest people at all, but a few might, so I'll put my thoughts here. Over the last month, I've reread all the early Poirot books in anticipation for continuing on with "new" ones, aka one I've yet to read. I'm not reviewing those.
After that, I moved onto A Man from U.N.C.L.E. book, The Vampire Affair. I guess I can do a quick review for those who might care, and then will come the interesting ones.
See, I'm looking into checking out all the young adult books being made into movies in the next couple of years, so of course I'm reading The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, and the other one I've read so far is a book called Matched. Next I'm doing The Maze Runner, then Crossed, so expect me to pop up again with some more thoughts later in the summer.
Reviews will be under cuts for spoilers (mostly minor). And warning, that last is LONG.
Yeah, I know no one still reading this journal watches Man from U.N.C.L.E., but if you ever do and get a craving, this is GREAT book. As far as the writing goes, there's some absolutely gorgeous descriptions that really pull you in. There are some grammatical things that got on my nerves, but they were few and far between. When not describing things, the writing tended to be simple, which I also really appreciate, so all in all, pretty good. The characterizations are just fantastic, and the character interactions are very fun. This book felt more like a really good fanfic than an episode-and that's a good thing! As much as I love Man from U.N.C.L.E., there are certain episodic staples that get on my nerves, and this book threw a lot of those out. We got a lot of Napoleon/Illya time, which is what we all want anyway, and it was all great, filled with great banter and humor and character insights. Plus, the plot was a great little mystery, which I always appreciate. My only qualm is the end was a bit of a cop out (Thrush. Always Thrush.), but as I expected as much from the beginning, I wasn't overly put out. All in all, it was a fun read and it definitely sated my need for a little MfU.
When I started reading this book, I thought it was the biggest load of tripe I've ever read in my life. Our character starts out being concerned with nothing but her future husband and oh noes! she didn't get to savor her last bite of chocolate cake. Seriously. :P Talk about first world problems. Her life is perfect, her boyfriend is perfect, her family is perfect, etc., and you settle down and prepare yourself to hate the whole thing. In fact, if, by the end of chapter 3, things didn't get a little more interesting, I was going to give up on the book then and there.
I wanted to wait until the plot kicked in because the synopsis is what hooked me, and after how fucking perfect everything was, I knew that when the shit hit that fan it was going to be SPECTACULAR. And when I got to chapter 3, it was...it was interesting. Not the shit storm I'd hoped for, but interesting.
So I kept reading.
And then you finally move off the romance plot and start getting immersed in this world the author has created, and more and more it was finding out about this world that interested me, and then, somewhere along the line I realized that that girl in the beginning? She was a perfect product of the world she lived in, and it was at that point that I realized that what this story was really going to be about was about how the cracks of dissent start, and how they grow, and how people grow, and everyone that seemed so perfect in the beginning started to show that maybe they all had these seeds of dissent in them, and before I knew it, I was hooked.
I LOVED this book. The world is just so much fun to read about and discover. The character's growth, while slow, is interesting to watch, and there is a FANTASTIC love story, full of secret touches and longing and lots and lots of stories, and by the end, this girl that seemed so naiive and shallow, and well, WAS, really finds her strength, and you want to follow her on her journey and see where it takes her.
I'm really looking forward to this movie, and even more, to reading more in the series. Which is why, despite the fact that I should be focusing on more going-to-be-made-into-movies books, the next book in this series is on my list right after The Maze Runner.
My favorite way to describe this book is that it feels like the Hunger Games if it had been told from the point of view of a capitol girl instead of an outer district girl. Similar world, but you're seeing it from a completely different angle, from the POV of a completely different person.
To begin with, I'm only 1/3 of the way through this book, so my thoughts are not complete, and there will likely be a follow up. Still, I apparently have A LOT to say.
I find this book to be a massive disappointment. As she didn't write my pairing of choice, I never read much of Cassandra Claire's work, though what I did read of hers, I liked well enough. This, however, is an exception.
I have a ton of issues with it, from flowery writing to an overall pretentiousness to simpley being BORING, but what strikes me the most is how much I hate the main character. I think part of this is coming from just reading Matched, where Cassia is pretty much the exact opposite of this girl, but coming from Cassia to Clary, I just want to punch Clary in the throat. Repeatedly. And then Jace, who's equally as obnoxious. Just punch em' in them throat.
I think my issue is best summed up in the comparison between two scenes from the two books. In both books, someone important gets taken away from the main character. In Matched, Cassia gives chase, but if memory serves me, the only thing she actually says is the person's name a couple times. Most of what's going on is in her head. She shows only a tiny break in decorum, but manages to put all her emotions into one word, and then shows her defiance and determination with a simple gesture. And that's it. She's got this attitude of "I got this," and she lets it play out as she knows it must because she knows she'll be able to do something about it later.
Now in City of Bones, Clary's reaction to a similar situation is to whine and scream and cry, to scratch the face of the person trying to help her, to completely ignore all instructions and warning signs, to admittedly fight a bit, and then to whine some more, and then faint. Like, legit faint. Seriously.
And I'm just sitting here going "And WHY are we following this chick around?"
Admittedly, Cassia's situation happens near the end of her book, whereas Clary's takes place early on, so she hasn't had time for growth yet, but the difference between the two character is astonishing, and in the end, I'm finding I like Cassia a hell of a lot more, even when you consider only the first third of that book.
The saving grace for Matched might have been the fascinating world we were put into, despite the character's flaws, whereas in CoB, the world seems tired and overused, so between that and the annoying characters, I'm a third of the way in and still not hooked. I could probably put the book down right now, never pick it up again and never regret it.
I'm also going to copy and paste what I said to blackstray about this because it sums up my thoughts pretty perfectly:
"Do you remember when we first saw the trailer for the movie? I said something like "Great, another tiny, mousy, brown haired girl who finds out she's sooper speshul!! and saves the world. Pass." And you expressed interest in seeing it. After finding out who the author was, that was when I gained some interest in it, but it's very, VERY obviously either a converted HP fanfic or at least borrows heavily from every single concept and character. Like, it's really easy to pick out who Ginny is, who Draco and Harry and Snape and Lupin and Voldemort are, etc. There's a group that's obviously Death Eaters and wands that they don't call wands, and all that. But it's not even that that's putting me off. It's a combination of characters that I saw one review call "slightly repellant," of the really, really predictable plot (as another review states, you figure out a plot twist about 200 pages before the character does) and a near constant stream of pop culture references that I think will make this book outdated sooner rather than later. But it obviously has an audience, and maybe it's just not for me. I don't want to say you won't like it because there's a good chance that you will. I just...I guess it's just that I feel like I've read this story before, or maybe that I've outgrown it when I find the love story eyerollingly obvious and uninteresting, and you KNOW I love a good love story. And even though I love fantasy and I super love urban fantasy, I just personally don't feel like this is a particularly good showing. But once more, when this series has 6 books with a 3 book prequel and a planned 3 book sequel, there's a good chance I'm in the minority. Reviews seem to be echoing my thoughts, however, and I'm just thinking that perhaps the audience for this book is a younger crowd, even for a YA book.
Now, having said all that, I still want to see the movie. I think the visuals will be interesting, I love Jonathan Rhys Meyers (who will make a much sexier Voldemort-character than in the HP books ^_^), and I think that in the screen play they might downplay the aspects that I find tiring. The pop references are mostly anime-related, which I don't think will make the cut, and with a run-time to take into consideration, the exposition and obnoxiousness of the characters will hopefully both be shortened to make room for more action and scenes that take place after the characters actually start to get along. I haven't gotten to that last yet."
After that, I moved onto A Man from U.N.C.L.E. book, The Vampire Affair. I guess I can do a quick review for those who might care, and then will come the interesting ones.
See, I'm looking into checking out all the young adult books being made into movies in the next couple of years, so of course I'm reading The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, and the other one I've read so far is a book called Matched. Next I'm doing The Maze Runner, then Crossed, so expect me to pop up again with some more thoughts later in the summer.
Reviews will be under cuts for spoilers (mostly minor). And warning, that last is LONG.
Yeah, I know no one still reading this journal watches Man from U.N.C.L.E., but if you ever do and get a craving, this is GREAT book. As far as the writing goes, there's some absolutely gorgeous descriptions that really pull you in. There are some grammatical things that got on my nerves, but they were few and far between. When not describing things, the writing tended to be simple, which I also really appreciate, so all in all, pretty good. The characterizations are just fantastic, and the character interactions are very fun. This book felt more like a really good fanfic than an episode-and that's a good thing! As much as I love Man from U.N.C.L.E., there are certain episodic staples that get on my nerves, and this book threw a lot of those out. We got a lot of Napoleon/Illya time, which is what we all want anyway, and it was all great, filled with great banter and humor and character insights. Plus, the plot was a great little mystery, which I always appreciate. My only qualm is the end was a bit of a cop out (Thrush. Always Thrush.), but as I expected as much from the beginning, I wasn't overly put out. All in all, it was a fun read and it definitely sated my need for a little MfU.
When I started reading this book, I thought it was the biggest load of tripe I've ever read in my life. Our character starts out being concerned with nothing but her future husband and oh noes! she didn't get to savor her last bite of chocolate cake. Seriously. :P Talk about first world problems. Her life is perfect, her boyfriend is perfect, her family is perfect, etc., and you settle down and prepare yourself to hate the whole thing. In fact, if, by the end of chapter 3, things didn't get a little more interesting, I was going to give up on the book then and there.
I wanted to wait until the plot kicked in because the synopsis is what hooked me, and after how fucking perfect everything was, I knew that when the shit hit that fan it was going to be SPECTACULAR. And when I got to chapter 3, it was...it was interesting. Not the shit storm I'd hoped for, but interesting.
So I kept reading.
And then you finally move off the romance plot and start getting immersed in this world the author has created, and more and more it was finding out about this world that interested me, and then, somewhere along the line I realized that that girl in the beginning? She was a perfect product of the world she lived in, and it was at that point that I realized that what this story was really going to be about was about how the cracks of dissent start, and how they grow, and how people grow, and everyone that seemed so perfect in the beginning started to show that maybe they all had these seeds of dissent in them, and before I knew it, I was hooked.
I LOVED this book. The world is just so much fun to read about and discover. The character's growth, while slow, is interesting to watch, and there is a FANTASTIC love story, full of secret touches and longing and lots and lots of stories, and by the end, this girl that seemed so naiive and shallow, and well, WAS, really finds her strength, and you want to follow her on her journey and see where it takes her.
I'm really looking forward to this movie, and even more, to reading more in the series. Which is why, despite the fact that I should be focusing on more going-to-be-made-into-movies books, the next book in this series is on my list right after The Maze Runner.
My favorite way to describe this book is that it feels like the Hunger Games if it had been told from the point of view of a capitol girl instead of an outer district girl. Similar world, but you're seeing it from a completely different angle, from the POV of a completely different person.
To begin with, I'm only 1/3 of the way through this book, so my thoughts are not complete, and there will likely be a follow up. Still, I apparently have A LOT to say.
I find this book to be a massive disappointment. As she didn't write my pairing of choice, I never read much of Cassandra Claire's work, though what I did read of hers, I liked well enough. This, however, is an exception.
I have a ton of issues with it, from flowery writing to an overall pretentiousness to simpley being BORING, but what strikes me the most is how much I hate the main character. I think part of this is coming from just reading Matched, where Cassia is pretty much the exact opposite of this girl, but coming from Cassia to Clary, I just want to punch Clary in the throat. Repeatedly. And then Jace, who's equally as obnoxious. Just punch em' in them throat.
I think my issue is best summed up in the comparison between two scenes from the two books. In both books, someone important gets taken away from the main character. In Matched, Cassia gives chase, but if memory serves me, the only thing she actually says is the person's name a couple times. Most of what's going on is in her head. She shows only a tiny break in decorum, but manages to put all her emotions into one word, and then shows her defiance and determination with a simple gesture. And that's it. She's got this attitude of "I got this," and she lets it play out as she knows it must because she knows she'll be able to do something about it later.
Now in City of Bones, Clary's reaction to a similar situation is to whine and scream and cry, to scratch the face of the person trying to help her, to completely ignore all instructions and warning signs, to admittedly fight a bit, and then to whine some more, and then faint. Like, legit faint. Seriously.
And I'm just sitting here going "And WHY are we following this chick around?"
Admittedly, Cassia's situation happens near the end of her book, whereas Clary's takes place early on, so she hasn't had time for growth yet, but the difference between the two character is astonishing, and in the end, I'm finding I like Cassia a hell of a lot more, even when you consider only the first third of that book.
The saving grace for Matched might have been the fascinating world we were put into, despite the character's flaws, whereas in CoB, the world seems tired and overused, so between that and the annoying characters, I'm a third of the way in and still not hooked. I could probably put the book down right now, never pick it up again and never regret it.
I'm also going to copy and paste what I said to blackstray about this because it sums up my thoughts pretty perfectly:
"Do you remember when we first saw the trailer for the movie? I said something like "Great, another tiny, mousy, brown haired girl who finds out she's sooper speshul!! and saves the world. Pass." And you expressed interest in seeing it. After finding out who the author was, that was when I gained some interest in it, but it's very, VERY obviously either a converted HP fanfic or at least borrows heavily from every single concept and character. Like, it's really easy to pick out who Ginny is, who Draco and Harry and Snape and Lupin and Voldemort are, etc. There's a group that's obviously Death Eaters and wands that they don't call wands, and all that. But it's not even that that's putting me off. It's a combination of characters that I saw one review call "slightly repellant," of the really, really predictable plot (as another review states, you figure out a plot twist about 200 pages before the character does) and a near constant stream of pop culture references that I think will make this book outdated sooner rather than later. But it obviously has an audience, and maybe it's just not for me. I don't want to say you won't like it because there's a good chance that you will. I just...I guess it's just that I feel like I've read this story before, or maybe that I've outgrown it when I find the love story eyerollingly obvious and uninteresting, and you KNOW I love a good love story. And even though I love fantasy and I super love urban fantasy, I just personally don't feel like this is a particularly good showing. But once more, when this series has 6 books with a 3 book prequel and a planned 3 book sequel, there's a good chance I'm in the minority. Reviews seem to be echoing my thoughts, however, and I'm just thinking that perhaps the audience for this book is a younger crowd, even for a YA book.
Now, having said all that, I still want to see the movie. I think the visuals will be interesting, I love Jonathan Rhys Meyers (who will make a much sexier Voldemort-character than in the HP books ^_^), and I think that in the screen play they might downplay the aspects that I find tiring. The pop references are mostly anime-related, which I don't think will make the cut, and with a run-time to take into consideration, the exposition and obnoxiousness of the characters will hopefully both be shortened to make room for more action and scenes that take place after the characters actually start to get along. I haven't gotten to that last yet."