Graze, Bacon Jerky, Book #46: Monsters of Men
Three reviews, from least review-y to most:
#1: I got my third Graze box, yay! I haven't tried any of the four snacks yet. (Still no dippers! Arg!)
For new people on my friends list, Graze is a healthy "snack of the month" company. Once every two weeks or four weeks (your choice) they send you out a box of four snacks to try. $6 per box total (shipping included). Unfortunately I'm out of friends codes for it at the moment.
My box:
1) Summer berry flapjack (rustic rolled oat flapjack with berry-infused cranberries) -- the only repeat so far, but I loved it so yay! Will likely save it to eat last.
2) Raspberry and coconut muffin (amaretti drops, raspberry infused cranberries, almond slices and coconut flakes) -- I don't like coconut (or at least I didn't as a kid and haven't tried it since), but I'll give it a chance this time.
3) Hot cross yum (sponge pieces, cinnamon and honey almonds and orange infused raisins) -- Mmmm sounds really good!
4) Herby bread basket (garlic crostini, mini basil breadsticks and oregano rice crackers) -- I suspect I might like this one the least, but looking forward to trying it.
#2: Someone on a food comm mentioned jerky bacon. He said it tasted just like regular bacon, only not hot. How could I not want to try that? When I went to Target today, I saw a bag. It's sitting here next to me right now. I'm going to open it up and try it real time!
(Not my picture, I'm lazy tonight.)
Disclaimer: I've only had jerky once before. I didn't like it, but I know there are tons of different kinds out there, I just never got around to trying another one.
Opening the bag, it smells like bacon (good sign). Not really strongly, but maybe half as strong as I would expect from real, just-cooked bacon. Also has a bit of a chemical smell.
It's rubbery and floppy, sort of like real bacon. Trying it... It tastes like it smells. Like bacon, but really, really weak flavor. Also, I don't think this could be called jerky at all, it's like the pre-cooked bacon you get in the store. (Though I'm no expert on jerky, as I said. But I thought it would have to be thicker and take a while to chew to be jerky. Maybe it's just the drying process?)
This little bag (2.5 ounces) cost $5. The flavor is okay (even bad bacon is still bacon). The calories aren't bad (130 for about half the package), so I'll probably finish the bag, but I won't buy it again. (On second thought, I'm going to toss it in the fridge. Maybe I can microwave it a bit to heat it, then use it in sandwiches.)
#3) Book #46 of 2013: Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking book 3) by Patrick Ness.
Oh what can I say about this book. The first book of the trilogy ( The Knife of Never Letting Go, my review) was easily the best book I've read this year. It's one of the best books I've ever read, period. The second and third books were a little less to my taste, through no fault of the books. (Edit: I should note that that's going from "OMG BEST BOOK EVER WONDERFUL LOVED-LOVED EVERY PAGE OF IT BEST THING I EVER READ" to "OMG BEST BOOK EVER WONDERFUL LOVED EVERY PAGE OF IT BEST THING I EVER READ". The sentence before the edit does not properly convey how much I still loved the books.) I enjoy world building, learning new things about a new world slowly, piece by piece, character by character a lot more than I enjoy the plotty parts. In a trilogy, most of the first book is often world building, then the plot kicks in in the last third and through the next two books. I like that first part best, when you know so little and everything is new.
While this book is marketed as a YA book, there is no way in hell that I would describe it that way. Such serious, violent, dark (sort of -- the kind of dark normal humans in bad situations might do), human things happened! I loved morals/theme of the book: That people have a hard time changing. If you live a violent life, you'll likely die a violent death. That the older you get, the harder change is. That anyone, adults included, can make bad decisions. (I almost didn't want to mention the moral of the story, because it wasn't in your face at all, it's just impossible for me not to think about it now as I look back on the story.)
I wish I could describe the plot. I wish I could describe even just the setting! But everything is a spoiler. (I'd highly suggest you don't even read the summary on Amazon. Going into it totally blind is the best way to experience this book!)
I'm so depressed I'm done with it. Even the aliens were so human! I swear, I've never met such realistically human characters in a book before. So perfectly flawed. So grey (non-black/white). When a "good" character did a bad act, his resulting behavior was so painful and believable.
I'm dying to see how they'll make it into a movie. If the Hunger Games books weren't being handled so well, I'd be afraid of how they'd ruin this trilogy. I really, really hope it gets a similar treatment!
If you buy one book based on my reviews, I'd suggest it be this one (er, the first one of this series). I know it's hard to buy a book without knowing anything about it, but I bet you'll love it. :) And if you do pick it up? Please let me know what you think!
#1: I got my third Graze box, yay! I haven't tried any of the four snacks yet. (Still no dippers! Arg!)
For new people on my friends list, Graze is a healthy "snack of the month" company. Once every two weeks or four weeks (your choice) they send you out a box of four snacks to try. $6 per box total (shipping included). Unfortunately I'm out of friends codes for it at the moment.
My box:
1) Summer berry flapjack (rustic rolled oat flapjack with berry-infused cranberries) -- the only repeat so far, but I loved it so yay! Will likely save it to eat last.
2) Raspberry and coconut muffin (amaretti drops, raspberry infused cranberries, almond slices and coconut flakes) -- I don't like coconut (or at least I didn't as a kid and haven't tried it since), but I'll give it a chance this time.
3) Hot cross yum (sponge pieces, cinnamon and honey almonds and orange infused raisins) -- Mmmm sounds really good!
4) Herby bread basket (garlic crostini, mini basil breadsticks and oregano rice crackers) -- I suspect I might like this one the least, but looking forward to trying it.
#2: Someone on a food comm mentioned jerky bacon. He said it tasted just like regular bacon, only not hot. How could I not want to try that? When I went to Target today, I saw a bag. It's sitting here next to me right now. I'm going to open it up and try it real time!
(Not my picture, I'm lazy tonight.)
Disclaimer: I've only had jerky once before. I didn't like it, but I know there are tons of different kinds out there, I just never got around to trying another one.
Opening the bag, it smells like bacon (good sign). Not really strongly, but maybe half as strong as I would expect from real, just-cooked bacon. Also has a bit of a chemical smell.
It's rubbery and floppy, sort of like real bacon. Trying it... It tastes like it smells. Like bacon, but really, really weak flavor. Also, I don't think this could be called jerky at all, it's like the pre-cooked bacon you get in the store. (Though I'm no expert on jerky, as I said. But I thought it would have to be thicker and take a while to chew to be jerky. Maybe it's just the drying process?)
This little bag (2.5 ounces) cost $5. The flavor is okay (even bad bacon is still bacon). The calories aren't bad (130 for about half the package), so I'll probably finish the bag, but I won't buy it again. (On second thought, I'm going to toss it in the fridge. Maybe I can microwave it a bit to heat it, then use it in sandwiches.)
#3) Book #46 of 2013: Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking book 3) by Patrick Ness.
Oh what can I say about this book. The first book of the trilogy ( The Knife of Never Letting Go, my review) was easily the best book I've read this year. It's one of the best books I've ever read, period. The second and third books were a little less to my taste, through no fault of the books. (Edit: I should note that that's going from "OMG BEST BOOK EVER WONDERFUL LOVED-LOVED EVERY PAGE OF IT BEST THING I EVER READ" to "OMG BEST BOOK EVER WONDERFUL LOVED EVERY PAGE OF IT BEST THING I EVER READ". The sentence before the edit does not properly convey how much I still loved the books.) I enjoy world building, learning new things about a new world slowly, piece by piece, character by character a lot more than I enjoy the plotty parts. In a trilogy, most of the first book is often world building, then the plot kicks in in the last third and through the next two books. I like that first part best, when you know so little and everything is new.
While this book is marketed as a YA book, there is no way in hell that I would describe it that way. Such serious, violent, dark (sort of -- the kind of dark normal humans in bad situations might do), human things happened! I loved morals/theme of the book: That people have a hard time changing. If you live a violent life, you'll likely die a violent death. That the older you get, the harder change is. That anyone, adults included, can make bad decisions. (I almost didn't want to mention the moral of the story, because it wasn't in your face at all, it's just impossible for me not to think about it now as I look back on the story.)
I wish I could describe the plot. I wish I could describe even just the setting! But everything is a spoiler. (I'd highly suggest you don't even read the summary on Amazon. Going into it totally blind is the best way to experience this book!)
I'm so depressed I'm done with it. Even the aliens were so human! I swear, I've never met such realistically human characters in a book before. So perfectly flawed. So grey (non-black/white). When a "good" character did a bad act, his resulting behavior was so painful and believable.
I'm dying to see how they'll make it into a movie. If the Hunger Games books weren't being handled so well, I'd be afraid of how they'd ruin this trilogy. I really, really hope it gets a similar treatment!
If you buy one book based on my reviews, I'd suggest it be this one (er, the first one of this series). I know it's hard to buy a book without knowing anything about it, but I bet you'll love it. :) And if you do pick it up? Please let me know what you think!