Saturday 28 April 2012

Stolen AwayStolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well that was a pleasant surprise!! Maybe in the future I should always approach a book with lowered expectations!!! Though not quite 4 stars, I give this a very solid and well deserved 3.5.

This is the kind of story that doesn't pretend to be something that it isn't. It's got a relatively simple plot, characters that are pretty bog-standard and is written in a style that is minimalist and uncluttered. These may all sound like bad things, but they really aren't, at least not where this book is concerned.

Yes, the plot isn't overly imaginative, but sometimes it's refreshing to read something that you don't have to decipher and pick apart to get at the meat of the story.

I said the characters were unoriginal, but that doesn't mean they are the kind of bland, two dimensional caricatures devoid of human emotion and the ability to speak without moaning and/or mumbling, you would expect to find in a book like this one. They may follow similar patterns, the seemingly shy and quite girl who's actually a lot tougher than she appears, the best friend who has rather strange personal tastes, this one being obsessed with all things British and dressing as if she had emerged from a period drams. And of course there were the incredibly cute boys vying for the fair ladies' affections, one wholesome and good, the other a bad boy a little rough round the edges. Sounds familiar doesn't it? but there wasn't one point while I read this that I got bored, or found the characters tiresome and dull.

The author managed to take well worn themes and personalities and completely make them her own. And best of all? NO FREAKING LOVE TRIANGLE!!!! Oh happy days. I kept expecting one to crawl out of the wood work, but nothing. Not even a hint. The long suffering male best friend remained just that, a friend. This in itself makes this worth reading!!

I also mentioned the simplistic narrative style, but that's not quite right. While the author doesn't weigh us down with heavy metaphors, she still has the ability to write with flair, even more so because she doesn't assault the senses with reams and reams of needless waffle. Her writing is lyrical enough, but also to the point and is the sort of writing I can really sink into.

So what if this is basically Tithe with a smile? Humour is good, and in most cases for me, can mean the difference between an ok book, and a great book. Stolen Away is fun and highly entertaining with maybe a little fluff poking out here and there. Disengage brain to enjoy to the fullest!!

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Thursday 26 April 2012

Insurgent (Divergent, #2)Insurgent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After the awesomeness that is Divergent I was expecting so much of this...but alas, I was to be disappointed. Maybe that was the problem, I hyped it up too much.

To me this felt like a filler. A brief reprieve before the next book, where I hope, we'll get a bit more story. There wasn't really any advancement in the plot, just a lot of Tris' inner battles with herself. Self reflection isn't a bad thing, as it helps us get to know a character. Usually though, there is other stuff going on to buffer all that woe and angst and general-feeling-like-a-terrible-human-being-and-wondering-why-anyone-wants-anything-to-do-with-you-because-you-are-just-an-awful-person type stuff. It goes, action, relationship, battles-with-inner demons, revelation then rinse and repeat. In this it was just all fighting inner demons stuff. Even the relationship built up between Tris and Four felt like a shadow of it's former self and I didn't get that giddy feeling I got when I read Divergent.

Focusing now on the story, there seemed to be a lot of talk, and not a lot of action. There were no moments that left me gasping with shock. To be honest, most of the time I had trouble keeping up with what was going on. Perhaps for most people, events were sufficiently explained, but for me I'd be left scratching my head wondering what the hell the characters were on about. You'd get a piece of information, but it wouldn't be explained. It was like joining a conversation half way through but no-one bothering to fill in you on what you'd missed. I don't think I'm that stupid, but I just found it frustrating. The amount of times I'd flick back through the pages wondering if I'd missed anything. I vaguely remember feeling that way when I read the first one, but then there was so much awesome going on, it didn't really bother me. Unfortunately there were no such distractions in this one.

I am afraid to say, there was more that irked me, though much of it I can't go into detail about for fear of giving away spoilers. All I will say though is that for someone with an aptitude for Erudite, Tris was oddly willing to risk a lot for gaining information she was never actually given the details of, which to me seems illogical. Surely a smart person would want all the facts before charging off blindly, or is that just me?

There was also the authors strange habit of explaining things a number of pages later than she should, at least in my opinion. Ahhh, it's hard to explain without giving anything away. Basically something seemingly random would happen and I'd be left feeling completely confused until many pages later when we finally get the explanation. I explain it poorly, but if you've read the book and maybe get what I'm saying let me know >.< as I get the feeling most of what I'm saying may be down to me just being an idiot.

And now for the ending. I was really hoping this was going to be something epic that would wipe all my other gripes from my mind. Again, I was to be disappointed. Oh, there was a twist, but one that was very poorly executed. I think the author was going for the teaser. In not wanting to risk giving away too much and keeping up the suspense, she rather failed to really give us anything. I get a little bit of what was being insinuated, but I'm not 100% positive I've got the jist and I now get to spend the next year probably wondering what the hell it was all for, waiting for the next instalment to show itself.

Er positives...I read it reasonably quickly. If it had been really bad I would have just given up on it, though I think that was partly down to me waiting for the story to start happening and apart from the whole backwards explanation thing, her writing was still top class.

All in all, a rather unsatisfying and disappointing read. If I was sticking strictly to the Goodreads rating system, this should have got 2 stars, as for me, it was just ok, but in memory of Divergent I gave it a 3.

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Friday 20 April 2012

It's Kind of a Funny StoryIt's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Some books just tell stories. That's not a bad thing. They are some of my favourite books of all time, heck, I'm even (trying) to write one of them. But there are some books that do more than that.

Don't expect this to be laugh out loud funny. It's not. It has it's moments, but it's not hysterical. At the same time, even though it's about a kid, and I mean kid, he's like 15, who suffers from depression, don't expect it to be weighed down in melancholic feelings of abject hopelessness. There's not much of that either.

Depression is such a tough subject to deal with. Illness, people can understand. You can imagine physical pain. Depression a whole different demon altogether. Unless you've suffered from it, it's hard to grasp how something as seemingly simple as going to school, doing homework, studying, can trip your brain up so easily. There's the temptation to say, 'seriously, people are really suffering out there. Get over it and be grateful for what you have have.' I know I've thought it before. When I'm waiting for my train home, but it's been delayed because some guy decided to throw himself on to the tracks, all I can think is what a selfish prick that guy is. Not only has he hurt his family, leaving them to deal with the aftermath and the guilt for not realising his pain sooner, he's also inconveniencing hundreds of people trying to get home. Trying to get to places they need to be.

What this book is help me realise what makes people reach that point, when death seems like the better alternative. In the beginning, I have little sympathy for Craig. He is crumbling under the weight of pressure from school, from friends, from his parents but mainly from his own expectations of this big life plan he's set out for himself. As the story moves along however, and we start to get to know Craig better, he understands in some ways how ridiculous it all is. That if he could just take a deep breath, clear his head a little, sort things out, he might be ok. But he just can't. Chemicals in his brain are preventing him from taking that step. What the author does so well is to translate these chaotic thoughts into words and sentences that we, as outsiders, can understand. How Craig can see what he has to do to get better, but it is always a constant struggle against his treacherous mind to get there. He knows that hurting himself would hurt his family, but to him it's the only option.

Once he's in the hospital, that's when he really starts to come into his own as a character. Once he is surrounded by people in similar situations to him, but are too late to change, he begins the change. Begins to realise that maybe he didn't have it so bad. Then comes the one simple solution, it takes a while, and if I'm honest, it was rather obvious. I'd figured it out after the first few chapters, and I'm no genius.

He's still got a long way to go at the end of the book, but by then he's got what he needs to move forward, to try and avoid ending up in hospital again.

There are some things about depression I will never understand. My opinions about taking your own life, that it is one of the most selfish and cruel acts a person can commit, I don't think will ever change, but thanks to this book, I can understand a little better what drives people to it. The author writes with the honesty and clarity of someone who has experienced it all first hand. He has created a masterful example of how, when there are so many things that threaten to drag us under, all we have to do is cling to the anchors that keep us from drowning and keep us living. You have to read this for the last few pages alone. So many simple, but powerful words. Things that we tend to forget in the chaos going on around us.

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Monday 16 April 2012

So, I finally went to go see The Hunger Games - A movie review that 
kinda turns into a review of the books

So I went to see it last night. I've had a while to think about it and put my thoughts into order, lets see how I do.

I'm really not a huge fan of the Mockingjay pin design, mainly because the bird
looks like neither a Mockingbird or a Jay.
Ok, first of all, I need to stress how much I absolutely adore this series. I will never truly be able to convey with words what they mean to me, and how they made me feel. I was literally blown away by the depth of the emotions portrayed, the nerve jangling authenticity that Suzanne Collins managed to create an entirely fictional and futuristic setting, and the astounding realism that she was able to capture in her characters. Katniss will forever be one of my favourite leads, mainly for her constant conflicts with herself, against what was right and what was necessary. I love her for a flaws, her honesty and her humanity.  She isn't a hero. It is her actions that are heroic.

It's safe to say then, that the movie had a lot to live up to.  The burning question was, did it? The answer?  Yes and no. It succeed in being an adaptation of a high standard. It was slick, it was cool and it most certainly held my attention. I do not want to give away any spoilers for those that haven't seen it or read the books, but there is a certain scene in this movie that will stay with me for a long time, involving Katniss and a sign of solidarity she makes after a particularly moving event.  That completely and utterly ruined me and I blubbed like a baby.  So it's safe to say they managed to capture some of the raw emotion that the books have in abundance.  It also accurately conveyed the fear and desperation of all involved and the depravity and cruelness of those in control. 

What I was most afraid however, was not necessarily that the film would be bad; the sheer amount of positive reviews told me that this wasn't going to be another catastrophic book adaptation.  It was rather that I would no longer feel the same about the book series. That my feelings towards them would be forever tainted. I am pleased to report however, that the opposite is true. Because I could see how much they were not able to include, it made me love the books even more for the simple fact that you can feel so much closer to Katniss and all her fellow characters. You can explore better the relationships she has with Gail, Peeta, Rue and Haymitch, all of which I feel were not developed fully in the films. Trying to read anything now will be struggle as all I want to do is pick them up and immerse myself in the story once again and rediscover them in their awe inspiring brilliance.

If you are reading this, I am assuming you are a book lover and therefore will have read The Hunger Games series. If by chance, you haven't, then what are you waiting for? 

I envy all those who are reading these books for the first time. A part of me wishes I could wipe them from my memory, so that I could re-live, and re-love them all over again.

Thank you for reading >.<

Monday 9 April 2012

Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1)Soulless by Gail Carriger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh I so needed this. It was fun, silly, a bit daft, but in a way that was utterly fabulous. I was reading this at work, and I don't mean on my lunch break. I mean while I should have been working. I would walk passed it, read a couple of pages, do a lap of the shop and come back again. I got to chapter 5 and thought bugger it, this is just too good, I must devour within two days, AND I DID!!!!

I generally avoid books that deal with vampires and werewolves. Because they are boring. And unoriginal. And generally just suck ginormous balls. But not this one. Everything is done very tongue and cheek, the outrageously gay and flamboyant vampire with interesting tastes in attire springs to mind. I had a particular fondness for a certain gruff and oh-so-manly werewolf (the fact that he was Scottish helped >.<) and the female lead Alexia, who was a scandal just waiting to happen but glorious in her feistiness and unwillingness to back down. Their relationship had me laughing and smiling so much my face ached. I do love a good bit of old fashioned bickering and those two squabbled like the best of them.

I really can't stress enough how much I enjoyed this. Carriger has the rapier wit and writing style of a master. Every sentence was an absolute joy to read and perfectly crafted with charm and flair. If I wasn't tripping over my own fingers in my haste to write this review, there's a slim chance I'd actually be able to do this justice, but alas I can't because I loved this book so much my brain is having trouble forming sentences due to the fact that it has melted into a gooey puddle of happiness!!! YAY

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March Wrap Up/April TBE

I knew I would be crap at blogging.  These videos have been up on Youtube for a while and I have only just remembered to shove them here. I thought I was a bad Tweete but jeez, that's got nothing on my appallingly sucky Blog skills.  So here they are, a little later than they should be.

March Wrap Up



April Book Haul/TBR