Title: All Rights Reserved (Word$ #1)
Author: Gregory Scott Katsoulis
Initial Thoughts:
The idea of silence has always captivated me. There are days where I just want to put in earbuds and drown out the world, not interacting with anyone. Times when I just don't want to deal with people and wish that I could just not say anything. But how? In our society, you need to communicate. You can't be independent and be silent. If you stop talking, you can't function because you can't work or tell anyone what you need. I'm not talking being mute, but actual silence. Mute and deaf people are able to communicate through sign language and interpreters. They are still a functioning part of society if they choose to be. What I'm talking about is just shutting up and shutting out everyone else. We are so surrounded by people. If I suddenly stopped talking, even just for a day that I didn't go to work, my roommate would question me, as would anyone who tried talking to me in passing. They wouldn't understand. They would misinterpret. And if I truly wanted to be silent, I couldn't explain to them. People would assume something was wrong. We assume that anyone around us is willing to communicate with us. We are such social creatures. There's no reason for me to go silent, other than a feeling sometimes that I just want to get away from the world, but others wouldn't get it, couldn't understand, would assume I was playing a joke or that there was a serious problem. If I go silent, no one would allow it. I see these characters in books who do it and manage to function with the help of their friends, but they're not in jobs that require speaking. Kisa Sohma in Fruits Basket in only in elementary school. Suzuyu in The Darkest Minds is in a dystopian society and on the run. Speth in All Rights Reserved is the closest to dealing with the reality of it in that you see how much she isn't able to do because she won't communicate. She can't even ring doorbells because she won't agree to the terms of service. She can't call for help. She can't comfort her friends and family. She can't explain herself. She luckily finds the one job in which she isn't required to talk, but even then it's hard because she can't communicate with her teammates. With Kisa and Zu, you don't get their perspectives so you don't know all the struggles they deal with in being silent, but in All Rights Reserved, the entire book is from Speth's perspective so you see how hard it is for her to be silent. There are days I just want to be silent, but I know I can't. Knowing all the struggles of these characters still doesn't change how I feel sometimes. Our world is so focused on communication with phones and social media, that it is so overwhelming sometimes and I just want a break from it all, but a short-term silence just isn't feasible.
Onto the actual book, I think this was inspired. I totally understand about copyrights and trademarks and all that because you don't want someone taking credit for your ideas. That just isn't fair to you. But issues start cropping up when someone has the same idea all on their own without any influence from yours. Two people who have the same original idea, but only one can get credit. And how do you decide what specifically gets copyrighted and what is copyright infringement? Someone creates a 4 wheeled rolling chair. Someone else creates a different, 5 wheeled rolling chair. Is it a unique enough idea to call it their own or is it infringement because it's a rolling chair? One issue I always have is the Happy Birthday song. Everyone knows it (at least in America), but no one can use it on television or as part of anything in which they are getting paid because it is copyrighted so everyone has to make up their own birthday songs and it's just silly because people use the traditional birthday song all the time. I get trademarking logos and brand names because you don't want anyone stealing your idea or giving you a bad rep because a product with the same name isn't as good as yours. But where is the line? Kellog's owns Frosted Flakes, and General Mills has Lucky Charms, but now General Mills has Lucky Charms Frosted Flakes and I guess that's allowed? The Setup Wizard works I guess because one is an actual software product and the other is a blog that doesn't make any money? I don't get how it could get to the point of people copyrighting, trademarking, and restricting everyday words that have been around for centuries. How do you charge someone for the use of "the"? It was in intriguing concept and I really enjoyed the story. The ending seemed a little anticlimactic, but maybe that's just me; or maybe that's because there is another book after this, which I completely plan on reading. Let's just say, this author takes the idea of "Freedom of Speech" to a whole new level and really explores how our society can take a good concept, like copyrights, and take it way too far and contort it completely out of shape.
Rating: 4.5/5 I loved the idea and execution, that one death was a little much (HOW COULD YOU!!!), and the ending wasn't quite up to par, but those were my only complaints so it stays above 4, but under 5.
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Friday, December 14, 2018
Bloodrose
Title: Bloodrose (Nightshade #3)
Author: Andrea Cremer
Initial Thoughts: That was really good.
I've heard other people complain about books where none of the main characters die. I've read some of those books. I usually really enjoyed them and didn't think too much about the fact that everyone has this ridiculous character shield protecting them. It's easier to get through that way. I read books to enjoy them, I don't want everyone to die, even if that is more realistic. I will admit, with Kingdom of Ash, I did think about the fact that everyone made it through (minus the Thirteen, may they rest in peace and their sacrifice never be forgotten), but I just knew that killing even one of those characters would mess things up and there'd be readers out for blood. How do you choose who lives and who dies? Everyone in that series had a love story and a place in the new world. Offing any of them would have just been tasteless after all the build-up she did. I get used to reading YA fic with happy endings where all the main characters survive to enjoy it. Andrea Cremer did an amazing job of giving you a happy ending, but she was willing and able to sacrifice characters along the way without turning the reader off of the series. I mourned Silas. I think he was supposed to be annoying, but I honestly found him a little entertaining and a good balance against the rest of the Searchers. I wasn't expecting him to die. She killed him, but she let them mourn him correctly (they were sad and they remembered him but yeah, they had found him annoying and were able to move on and not let it devastate them but they didn't forget him or just brush it off). It was a surprising enough death that I got a little worried about the other characters every time they would go into any dangerous situation. Would they all make it out alive? I also wondered if she was going to clear up the whole romance issue by just killing Ren or Shay. It's the easiest solution, though a little tasteless and cliche. The first chapter, when Calla started kissing Ren after having slept with Shay only a day or two before had me nearly putting the book down. The second chapter had me nearly giddy with relief and laughter because she wasn't going to have Calla try and juggle two boys and put off decision making until later and pretend that's not a terrible idea. I mean, yeah, she did kind of juggle two boys and put off making the decision, but they were pretty much kept in the loop about it, which really does make it better. She wasn't trying to play them and they knew how she felt about both of them. Also, she chose Shay before and Ren pretty much knew it and Ren didn't die because he lost to Shay, he died well and Shay wasn't just the last option because she made her decision first and let him know so props to Andrea Cremer for writing a love triangle that didn't totally sicken me. (Okay, most of them don't but I think I'm getting a bit more critical as I get older and read more and some of the scenarios are just getting old). So yeah, people died and some people didn't get the happy ending they wanted, but in general everything worked out and everyone can move on and find new happiness and I really, really enjoyed it (after chapter 1, that is - she seriously had me worried). It's not the magical happy ending that some might write where things somehow work out in everyone's favor, despite the original rules of the world, but it was a good ending.
Rating: 5. Well done, Andrea Cremer, well done.
Author: Andrea Cremer
Initial Thoughts: That was really good.
I've heard other people complain about books where none of the main characters die. I've read some of those books. I usually really enjoyed them and didn't think too much about the fact that everyone has this ridiculous character shield protecting them. It's easier to get through that way. I read books to enjoy them, I don't want everyone to die, even if that is more realistic. I will admit, with Kingdom of Ash, I did think about the fact that everyone made it through (minus the Thirteen, may they rest in peace and their sacrifice never be forgotten), but I just knew that killing even one of those characters would mess things up and there'd be readers out for blood. How do you choose who lives and who dies? Everyone in that series had a love story and a place in the new world. Offing any of them would have just been tasteless after all the build-up she did. I get used to reading YA fic with happy endings where all the main characters survive to enjoy it. Andrea Cremer did an amazing job of giving you a happy ending, but she was willing and able to sacrifice characters along the way without turning the reader off of the series. I mourned Silas. I think he was supposed to be annoying, but I honestly found him a little entertaining and a good balance against the rest of the Searchers. I wasn't expecting him to die. She killed him, but she let them mourn him correctly (they were sad and they remembered him but yeah, they had found him annoying and were able to move on and not let it devastate them but they didn't forget him or just brush it off). It was a surprising enough death that I got a little worried about the other characters every time they would go into any dangerous situation. Would they all make it out alive? I also wondered if she was going to clear up the whole romance issue by just killing Ren or Shay. It's the easiest solution, though a little tasteless and cliche. The first chapter, when Calla started kissing Ren after having slept with Shay only a day or two before had me nearly putting the book down. The second chapter had me nearly giddy with relief and laughter because she wasn't going to have Calla try and juggle two boys and put off decision making until later and pretend that's not a terrible idea. I mean, yeah, she did kind of juggle two boys and put off making the decision, but they were pretty much kept in the loop about it, which really does make it better. She wasn't trying to play them and they knew how she felt about both of them. Also, she chose Shay before and Ren pretty much knew it and Ren didn't die because he lost to Shay, he died well and Shay wasn't just the last option because she made her decision first and let him know so props to Andrea Cremer for writing a love triangle that didn't totally sicken me. (Okay, most of them don't but I think I'm getting a bit more critical as I get older and read more and some of the scenarios are just getting old). So yeah, people died and some people didn't get the happy ending they wanted, but in general everything worked out and everyone can move on and find new happiness and I really, really enjoyed it (after chapter 1, that is - she seriously had me worried). It's not the magical happy ending that some might write where things somehow work out in everyone's favor, despite the original rules of the world, but it was a good ending.
Rating: 5. Well done, Andrea Cremer, well done.
Saturday, December 1, 2018
The Heart of Betrayal
Title: The Heart of Betrayal
Author: Mary E. Pearson
Initial Thoughts: she did it again.
Not the same plot twist as the first time; that would be nearly impossible to repeat in a sequel. Last time we didn't know who was the prince and who the assassin (though I thought I had it figured out and turned out to be totally wrong). This time is was the twist that Sven comes into play and I never saw it coming. Like, I should have expected something like this, but it totally hit me out of the blue. "You're Sven!?!?!?!?!?!" Oh, it was great. She does so well with these plot twists and yanking the rug out from under you.
I'm starting to wonder who she'll end up with. Kaden isn't a bad guy, I rather like him, but she's got this whole epic romance thing going with Rafe. But then Kaden says he saw a vision of him with her holding a kid (doesn't necessarily mean that it's their kid) and the fact that we've still got two suitors vying for her attention reminds me of any other story with a girl and two suitors and the tables usually turn about halfway through so they end up with the original second option, but in a way so that you totally approve because the first option stopped being such a prince charming and the second option became a real person on the same level as the heroine. The only example I can think of right away that didn't go in this direction is Twilight where she actually ended up staying with Edward throughout the entire series and Jacob got his happy ending as well, just in a different way. I'm just getting worried because I like Kaden and I want him to be happy, but Lia and Rafe have been through so much and fought so hard and they seem totally in love and I think it's super cute (hopeless romantic here).
Anyway, to the story, I see Lia becoming the connecting point between all the major civilizations. Princess of Morrighan, betrothed of Dalbreck, Queen and Komizar to Venda. She's started to really care about Vendens, she will always care about the Morrighese (Morrighans?), and she's set to be the future queen of the Dalbreckians (?). She's really learning to grow into who she'll become, a savior to all lands, standing up for anyone in need.
I tend to take magic too far (which is why I could never write a story that includes magic - I would go way overboard), but I think it would be so much fun if it was revealed to everyone else that Kaden also had the gift by him and Lia having the same vision at the same time, like Venda talking to them or something and they both talk back (but Kaden doesn't realize who she is or that she isn't visible to everyone else) and then she disappears and everyone is staring at them because they were holding half a conversation with thin air, but together so their companions couldn't really discount the gift anymore. Or both of them getting the same warning and starting to yell to pack up and leave at the same time with no prompting so it's obvious that whatever alerted Lia also alerted Kaden. Not likely to happen, these are just the daydreams that go through my head.
Rating: 5/5. It was so fun, with such a strong heroine, and I freaking love that she pulled another sneaky plot twist on me that I never saw coming.
Author: Mary E. Pearson
Initial Thoughts: she did it again.
Not the same plot twist as the first time; that would be nearly impossible to repeat in a sequel. Last time we didn't know who was the prince and who the assassin (though I thought I had it figured out and turned out to be totally wrong). This time is was the twist that Sven comes into play and I never saw it coming. Like, I should have expected something like this, but it totally hit me out of the blue. "You're Sven!?!?!?!?!?!" Oh, it was great. She does so well with these plot twists and yanking the rug out from under you.
I'm starting to wonder who she'll end up with. Kaden isn't a bad guy, I rather like him, but she's got this whole epic romance thing going with Rafe. But then Kaden says he saw a vision of him with her holding a kid (doesn't necessarily mean that it's their kid) and the fact that we've still got two suitors vying for her attention reminds me of any other story with a girl and two suitors and the tables usually turn about halfway through so they end up with the original second option, but in a way so that you totally approve because the first option stopped being such a prince charming and the second option became a real person on the same level as the heroine. The only example I can think of right away that didn't go in this direction is Twilight where she actually ended up staying with Edward throughout the entire series and Jacob got his happy ending as well, just in a different way. I'm just getting worried because I like Kaden and I want him to be happy, but Lia and Rafe have been through so much and fought so hard and they seem totally in love and I think it's super cute (hopeless romantic here).
Anyway, to the story, I see Lia becoming the connecting point between all the major civilizations. Princess of Morrighan, betrothed of Dalbreck, Queen and Komizar to Venda. She's started to really care about Vendens, she will always care about the Morrighese (Morrighans?), and she's set to be the future queen of the Dalbreckians (?). She's really learning to grow into who she'll become, a savior to all lands, standing up for anyone in need.
I tend to take magic too far (which is why I could never write a story that includes magic - I would go way overboard), but I think it would be so much fun if it was revealed to everyone else that Kaden also had the gift by him and Lia having the same vision at the same time, like Venda talking to them or something and they both talk back (but Kaden doesn't realize who she is or that she isn't visible to everyone else) and then she disappears and everyone is staring at them because they were holding half a conversation with thin air, but together so their companions couldn't really discount the gift anymore. Or both of them getting the same warning and starting to yell to pack up and leave at the same time with no prompting so it's obvious that whatever alerted Lia also alerted Kaden. Not likely to happen, these are just the daydreams that go through my head.
Rating: 5/5. It was so fun, with such a strong heroine, and I freaking love that she pulled another sneaky plot twist on me that I never saw coming.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Tempests and Slaughter
Title: Tempests and Slaughter (Numair Chronicles #1)
Author: Tamora Pierce
Initial Thoughts: I felt like I had come home.
This is likely just me because she is one of my favorite authors and I've been reading her works for so long, but in the middle of reading, I realized that, even though I had never read this story before and it was set in Carthak rather than in Tortall, everything was just so familiar. The feel of the characters, the imagined setting, everything. This is really weird and probably only other hardcore bookworms could even understand this, but as I was reading, I was picturing everything in my head. I get a general idea of a place and that infuses everything I read in that setting. I probably couldn't tell you exact details because I don't actually have any, just a general sense of things. It's like a ghost or afterimage of something, the idea of it without any details. That's how I picture my worlds. Some I can give a very slight description (Wheel of Time is bright, colorful, busy and bustling, full of life and adventure and magic; Sword of Truth is natural, actually rather empty of life, but where there is life, it's on a large scale, so it's either empty flatlands or capital cities, all in shades of brown and green and just little hints of magic; etc.). Tortall is busy cities, knights, castles, mages, the smell of road dust and taverns. As I was reading, I realized it smelled familiar (in any way that an imagined scent that I wasn't even consciously imagining could smell) and it was like I was home. It smelled and felt like Tortall. To explain how much that means, I first picked up Wild Magic over 13 years ago after we had just moved to a new state (the one I'm living in now and have lived in for over half my life). The copy I had got sold at a yard sale (it was actually my sister's), but I never forgot it. A few years down the road I came across it at the library and found out that there were more books in the series, both before and after it. Since then I have reread all her books but the newest multiple times and her books are one of only two author's whose books I've listened to as audiobooks. I never get tired of rereading her works and I always look forward to anything new by her. So yeah, reading this new book by her was like returning to a favorite place with my oldest and longest friends and discovering something new about it.
Even though he's just a child and he goes by a different name, it is so easy to see that this is Numair. He's still struggling and growing, still becoming who he will be, but it's him. Conversing with crocodile gods and raising sunbirds, no wonder he's so good with Daine. It's really interesting also to see Ozorne and Varice when they were all young and inseparable. I don't think I'll be reading Emperor Mage the same way again. The book is just a lot of fun and epicness wrapped together, such is Pierce's style. I really enjoyed it, meeting and remeeting the characters you know so much later in life and getting their background stories. (I really like background stories.)
Rating: 5 In all honesty, with it being just the beginning book for the series and not as much happening as I'm sure it will later on, it should probably actually be a 4, but that sense of familiarity bumped it up to a 5.
Author: Tamora Pierce
Initial Thoughts: I felt like I had come home.
This is likely just me because she is one of my favorite authors and I've been reading her works for so long, but in the middle of reading, I realized that, even though I had never read this story before and it was set in Carthak rather than in Tortall, everything was just so familiar. The feel of the characters, the imagined setting, everything. This is really weird and probably only other hardcore bookworms could even understand this, but as I was reading, I was picturing everything in my head. I get a general idea of a place and that infuses everything I read in that setting. I probably couldn't tell you exact details because I don't actually have any, just a general sense of things. It's like a ghost or afterimage of something, the idea of it without any details. That's how I picture my worlds. Some I can give a very slight description (Wheel of Time is bright, colorful, busy and bustling, full of life and adventure and magic; Sword of Truth is natural, actually rather empty of life, but where there is life, it's on a large scale, so it's either empty flatlands or capital cities, all in shades of brown and green and just little hints of magic; etc.). Tortall is busy cities, knights, castles, mages, the smell of road dust and taverns. As I was reading, I realized it smelled familiar (in any way that an imagined scent that I wasn't even consciously imagining could smell) and it was like I was home. It smelled and felt like Tortall. To explain how much that means, I first picked up Wild Magic over 13 years ago after we had just moved to a new state (the one I'm living in now and have lived in for over half my life). The copy I had got sold at a yard sale (it was actually my sister's), but I never forgot it. A few years down the road I came across it at the library and found out that there were more books in the series, both before and after it. Since then I have reread all her books but the newest multiple times and her books are one of only two author's whose books I've listened to as audiobooks. I never get tired of rereading her works and I always look forward to anything new by her. So yeah, reading this new book by her was like returning to a favorite place with my oldest and longest friends and discovering something new about it.
Even though he's just a child and he goes by a different name, it is so easy to see that this is Numair. He's still struggling and growing, still becoming who he will be, but it's him. Conversing with crocodile gods and raising sunbirds, no wonder he's so good with Daine. It's really interesting also to see Ozorne and Varice when they were all young and inseparable. I don't think I'll be reading Emperor Mage the same way again. The book is just a lot of fun and epicness wrapped together, such is Pierce's style. I really enjoyed it, meeting and remeeting the characters you know so much later in life and getting their background stories. (I really like background stories.)
Rating: 5 In all honesty, with it being just the beginning book for the series and not as much happening as I'm sure it will later on, it should probably actually be a 4, but that sense of familiarity bumped it up to a 5.
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Kingdom of Ash
Title: Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Initial Thoughts: If I was ever going to get a book hangover, it would be from this book. And I never get book hangovers.
First: was that a hint of something to come in the ACOTAR series?!?!?! I swear, when Aelin was falling through the worlds, the winged male with a dark power and the pregnant female fae sounded an awfully lot like Rhys and Feyre, at least to me. Though last time we saw them, Feyre was not pregnant. Is it a hint of things to come? Or am I just reading too much into it?
As a friend pointed out to me, Nox Owen didn't show up again. We never got to see him and Aelin reunited. My friend thinks he might have died. I think he had just gone off to deliver messages asking for help and either didn't return yet or he did and Maas just decided that that reunion wasn't important enough to make the book any longer than it already was. After she mentioned it, though, I started keeping an eye out for other loose ends. I thought there might be one with the last of the cadre who had gone north to look for Lorcan, but they mentioned him at the end. So yeah, she didn't a pretty darn good job of wrapping up all her loose ends. And I totally called the field of kingsflame blooming, though it took a bit longer than I expected (mostly because I didn't keep the seasons in mind and wanted it to bloom as soon as she was crowned, not even thinking about the fact that it was winter). Halfway through, I would have rated this book at a contented 4, glad that we were finally getting the ending, that everything was coming together, characters were starting to reunite. By the end, all the feels, the ups and downs, the heartbreak and laughter, the tense moments and the joyous reunions, I can't do anything but give it a resounding 5. If anyone had been around as I read the last hundred or so pages, they would have seen a distinct shine in my eyes, from both unshed tears and the sparkle of pure joy all at the same time as I read about the triumphs and losses of that final battle. Years ago when I finished Breaking Dawn, I thought that was one of the best endings I had ever read. It wrapped things up but left the promise of the future. If I wanted, I could imagine for myself how their lives went on, and every imagining was full of joy. Maas topped that. By a long shot. She wrapped up everything, found all the happy endings, we see the future stretched out before them all and we know it will be a better future, a better world. What started as questionable alliances came through the war as friends, as lovers and brothers and sisters, and they will only make sure that continues and that those relationships grow. While everyone returns home, they will no longer be three separate continents, but three neighboring kingdoms who fought and bled together to ensure a future for them all and that will not soon be forgotten. Hope. That most important dream. Hope for a better world. Hope for a better future for us all. Maybe that's why I love her books so much, because I have always believed in hope, just as Aelin does, and dreams, like Feyre. I believe that we can imagine better, and as long as we don't lose that, we will make progress towards that bright future, one day at a time. Breaking Dawn left me with a contented smile. Kingdom of Ash leaves me with a heart full of joy, a head full of dreams, and a longing to do my part to make a difference, to bring us closer to our better world, our promise of a brighter tomorrow.
Rating: 5. Like I could ever actually give it anything less.
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Initial Thoughts: If I was ever going to get a book hangover, it would be from this book. And I never get book hangovers.
First: was that a hint of something to come in the ACOTAR series?!?!?! I swear, when Aelin was falling through the worlds, the winged male with a dark power and the pregnant female fae sounded an awfully lot like Rhys and Feyre, at least to me. Though last time we saw them, Feyre was not pregnant. Is it a hint of things to come? Or am I just reading too much into it?
As a friend pointed out to me, Nox Owen didn't show up again. We never got to see him and Aelin reunited. My friend thinks he might have died. I think he had just gone off to deliver messages asking for help and either didn't return yet or he did and Maas just decided that that reunion wasn't important enough to make the book any longer than it already was. After she mentioned it, though, I started keeping an eye out for other loose ends. I thought there might be one with the last of the cadre who had gone north to look for Lorcan, but they mentioned him at the end. So yeah, she didn't a pretty darn good job of wrapping up all her loose ends. And I totally called the field of kingsflame blooming, though it took a bit longer than I expected (mostly because I didn't keep the seasons in mind and wanted it to bloom as soon as she was crowned, not even thinking about the fact that it was winter). Halfway through, I would have rated this book at a contented 4, glad that we were finally getting the ending, that everything was coming together, characters were starting to reunite. By the end, all the feels, the ups and downs, the heartbreak and laughter, the tense moments and the joyous reunions, I can't do anything but give it a resounding 5. If anyone had been around as I read the last hundred or so pages, they would have seen a distinct shine in my eyes, from both unshed tears and the sparkle of pure joy all at the same time as I read about the triumphs and losses of that final battle. Years ago when I finished Breaking Dawn, I thought that was one of the best endings I had ever read. It wrapped things up but left the promise of the future. If I wanted, I could imagine for myself how their lives went on, and every imagining was full of joy. Maas topped that. By a long shot. She wrapped up everything, found all the happy endings, we see the future stretched out before them all and we know it will be a better future, a better world. What started as questionable alliances came through the war as friends, as lovers and brothers and sisters, and they will only make sure that continues and that those relationships grow. While everyone returns home, they will no longer be three separate continents, but three neighboring kingdoms who fought and bled together to ensure a future for them all and that will not soon be forgotten. Hope. That most important dream. Hope for a better world. Hope for a better future for us all. Maybe that's why I love her books so much, because I have always believed in hope, just as Aelin does, and dreams, like Feyre. I believe that we can imagine better, and as long as we don't lose that, we will make progress towards that bright future, one day at a time. Breaking Dawn left me with a contented smile. Kingdom of Ash leaves me with a heart full of joy, a head full of dreams, and a longing to do my part to make a difference, to bring us closer to our better world, our promise of a brighter tomorrow.
Rating: 5. Like I could ever actually give it anything less.
Saturday, October 20, 2018
A Map of Days
Title: A Map of Days (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #4)
Author: Ransom Riggs
Initial thoughts: Much anticipated and it did not disappoint. I'm excited to see where it goes.
So, the last book ended well. Like, things were mostly wrapped up, we had a fairly happy ending. We didn't know where things might go from here but everything looked hopeful. Then we get into this book and we have issues with his parents and his relationship with Emma is falling apart and things are going downhill rather quickly and the bright future/happy ending we were picturing for all of them is suddenly a distant light, lost in the fog of their immediate lives. So disappointing to see that fading away, but so much excitement to see where we're going. We get to explore America, we're dealing with racial issues because America's past is bloody and harsh. New Peculiars, new loops, new organizations and governments, clans, even a prophecy apparently. If Noor is one of the ones foretold to emancipate peculiardom, who are the others? Could Jacob be one? Or was his defeat of the Hollows and Wights unrelated, despite that it was potentially the catalyst to allow all this to start going. Though maybe America was so far distant from Europe that anything he did or didn't do over there had little to no effect on what will or won't happen in America. Yeah, he got rid of most of the hollows and wights, but they had been practically done terrorizing America by that point already. Reading throughout the book, I couldn't help but think, Jacob is such an American. While the others may rebel now and then, especially after their taste of freedom in the last few books, they always default back to following their Ymbryne. Jacob, on the other hand, can't accept that. He wants to be an individual, he wants independence and freedom. And he wants that for others as well. He is such an American, refusing to follow the rules or be told what to do. Our country was founded on rebellion; we're raised on the ideas of liberty and justice, built for independence. Red, white, and blue run through our veins and even if it's a monumentally idiotic idea to act out against authority, we're practically programmed to do so. Yep, he's such an American. Some points of this did get me worried, such as his rocky relationship with Emma (they had been doing so well), overall, I'm just really excited to see where Ransom Riggs takes us next.
Rating: 5/5 Nothing more to be said.
Author: Ransom Riggs
Initial thoughts: Much anticipated and it did not disappoint. I'm excited to see where it goes.
So, the last book ended well. Like, things were mostly wrapped up, we had a fairly happy ending. We didn't know where things might go from here but everything looked hopeful. Then we get into this book and we have issues with his parents and his relationship with Emma is falling apart and things are going downhill rather quickly and the bright future/happy ending we were picturing for all of them is suddenly a distant light, lost in the fog of their immediate lives. So disappointing to see that fading away, but so much excitement to see where we're going. We get to explore America, we're dealing with racial issues because America's past is bloody and harsh. New Peculiars, new loops, new organizations and governments, clans, even a prophecy apparently. If Noor is one of the ones foretold to emancipate peculiardom, who are the others? Could Jacob be one? Or was his defeat of the Hollows and Wights unrelated, despite that it was potentially the catalyst to allow all this to start going. Though maybe America was so far distant from Europe that anything he did or didn't do over there had little to no effect on what will or won't happen in America. Yeah, he got rid of most of the hollows and wights, but they had been practically done terrorizing America by that point already. Reading throughout the book, I couldn't help but think, Jacob is such an American. While the others may rebel now and then, especially after their taste of freedom in the last few books, they always default back to following their Ymbryne. Jacob, on the other hand, can't accept that. He wants to be an individual, he wants independence and freedom. And he wants that for others as well. He is such an American, refusing to follow the rules or be told what to do. Our country was founded on rebellion; we're raised on the ideas of liberty and justice, built for independence. Red, white, and blue run through our veins and even if it's a monumentally idiotic idea to act out against authority, we're practically programmed to do so. Yep, he's such an American. Some points of this did get me worried, such as his rocky relationship with Emma (they had been doing so well), overall, I'm just really excited to see where Ransom Riggs takes us next.
Rating: 5/5 Nothing more to be said.
The Mortal Instruments 1-4
Titles: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1), City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2), City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3), City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Initial Thoughts: I loved this series, and then the fourth book happened.
So, I absolutely love the first three books. There's a reason I'm doing them all together in one post and that reason is that I couldn't be bothered to stop long enough between the books to write anything down. That love of the series led me to read the fourth one right away as well, but then I just had to pause. And now I'm here.
Some Characters:
Alec: I'm definitely not a fan in the first three books. He is just so angsty and angry and dude either fess up to your feelings or stop mooning after people you'll never allow yourself to have and get on with your life. If you're not going to admit that you're gay, then I'm sorry but stop taking it out on other people. If you really love someone enough that you want to be with them, then you're going to have to tell your parents. Deal with it. Thank you for finally kissing Magnus in front of them. That took way too long. I'm happy. Alec and Magnus make a cute couple. Alec is definitely better in the fourth book. Less angsty (though Camille does set him back a bit), more sure of himself, more kind and generous and we can see what Magnus fell in love with. High hopes for him for the next couple books.
Simon: Poor Simon. He loved Clary and that wasn't going to happen. He gets dissed for being a mundane, then he gets turned into a vampire and he gets dissed for being a downworlder. I liked him with Maia and I also liked him with Isabelle (though please, not both together, I can't believe you did that, dude). Maia was sweet and appreciated him for him. Izzy...it would be good for Simon to be accepted by the Shadowhunters, but I'm not sure there's much else Simon gets out of that relationship. On the other hand, I think Simon would be good for Izzy, would help show her how to love, that she can be loved, that love isn't a joke or a curse but something great and I think Simon could make her better. Maybe she can help Simon accept who he is and not feel like a worthless downworlder amongst Shadowhunters, but I'm not totally sure yet. She is rather selfish (Slytherin primary - looks our for herself and her own (her family) above all else). I like Simon in the third book where he's gaining confidence as a vampire and is becoming at least a little accepted by Jace and Izzy, maybe even Alec. The fourth book, though, he starts getting all angsty and feeling alone and misunderstood and it gets a bit whiny and annoying. He needs to start figuring out who he is/wants to be and just embrace the love of the people who care about him rather than worrying about the people who don't. I know, harder said than done and we all struggle with these things but I just want him to get it together already.
So, something I noticed. Throughout the books, Cassandra Clare makes it obvious that, in her opinion, same sex relationships are fine as we watch the kids accepting Alec's preferences, but she admits that it's hard for them and there are challenges, such as the older generation. We get cross-species relationships with Simon and Maia getting close (after she gets over the prejudice of werewolves vs vampires) and with Luke and Jocelyn because we totally want those two to be together. Then we get to the potential incest of Clary and Jace (thank you that that didn't end up being a thing because I was getting seriously annoyed) where it's like, no, this is not right, not at all, not acceptable, but we almost want it to be so that Jace and Clary can be together because they are sickeningly in love with each other but that is the one line we do not cross. I just thought it was interesting. "This is acceptable, and even this is acceptable, but this just isn't ever going to be acceptable. People need to learn to accept that everything else is okay, up to this line. This is where we draw the line and do not cross. As long as it doesn't cross this line, get over it."
The fourth book is definitely starting to annoy me. The third one ended so well, and now the fourth one is just introducing so many problems. Ugh! I just hope the series gets better because the first three were great and I couldn't put them down and now the fourth one is just ruining it all.
Rating: 5/5 (because 1, 2, and 3, weighed against 4 make it great. 4 itself would have just been a 4/5)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Initial Thoughts: I loved this series, and then the fourth book happened.
So, I absolutely love the first three books. There's a reason I'm doing them all together in one post and that reason is that I couldn't be bothered to stop long enough between the books to write anything down. That love of the series led me to read the fourth one right away as well, but then I just had to pause. And now I'm here.
Some Characters:
Alec: I'm definitely not a fan in the first three books. He is just so angsty and angry and dude either fess up to your feelings or stop mooning after people you'll never allow yourself to have and get on with your life. If you're not going to admit that you're gay, then I'm sorry but stop taking it out on other people. If you really love someone enough that you want to be with them, then you're going to have to tell your parents. Deal with it. Thank you for finally kissing Magnus in front of them. That took way too long. I'm happy. Alec and Magnus make a cute couple. Alec is definitely better in the fourth book. Less angsty (though Camille does set him back a bit), more sure of himself, more kind and generous and we can see what Magnus fell in love with. High hopes for him for the next couple books.
Simon: Poor Simon. He loved Clary and that wasn't going to happen. He gets dissed for being a mundane, then he gets turned into a vampire and he gets dissed for being a downworlder. I liked him with Maia and I also liked him with Isabelle (though please, not both together, I can't believe you did that, dude). Maia was sweet and appreciated him for him. Izzy...it would be good for Simon to be accepted by the Shadowhunters, but I'm not sure there's much else Simon gets out of that relationship. On the other hand, I think Simon would be good for Izzy, would help show her how to love, that she can be loved, that love isn't a joke or a curse but something great and I think Simon could make her better. Maybe she can help Simon accept who he is and not feel like a worthless downworlder amongst Shadowhunters, but I'm not totally sure yet. She is rather selfish (Slytherin primary - looks our for herself and her own (her family) above all else). I like Simon in the third book where he's gaining confidence as a vampire and is becoming at least a little accepted by Jace and Izzy, maybe even Alec. The fourth book, though, he starts getting all angsty and feeling alone and misunderstood and it gets a bit whiny and annoying. He needs to start figuring out who he is/wants to be and just embrace the love of the people who care about him rather than worrying about the people who don't. I know, harder said than done and we all struggle with these things but I just want him to get it together already.
So, something I noticed. Throughout the books, Cassandra Clare makes it obvious that, in her opinion, same sex relationships are fine as we watch the kids accepting Alec's preferences, but she admits that it's hard for them and there are challenges, such as the older generation. We get cross-species relationships with Simon and Maia getting close (after she gets over the prejudice of werewolves vs vampires) and with Luke and Jocelyn because we totally want those two to be together. Then we get to the potential incest of Clary and Jace (thank you that that didn't end up being a thing because I was getting seriously annoyed) where it's like, no, this is not right, not at all, not acceptable, but we almost want it to be so that Jace and Clary can be together because they are sickeningly in love with each other but that is the one line we do not cross. I just thought it was interesting. "This is acceptable, and even this is acceptable, but this just isn't ever going to be acceptable. People need to learn to accept that everything else is okay, up to this line. This is where we draw the line and do not cross. As long as it doesn't cross this line, get over it."
The fourth book is definitely starting to annoy me. The third one ended so well, and now the fourth one is just introducing so many problems. Ugh! I just hope the series gets better because the first three were great and I couldn't put them down and now the fourth one is just ruining it all.
Rating: 5/5 (because 1, 2, and 3, weighed against 4 make it great. 4 itself would have just been a 4/5)
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