Mini Book Reviews: Comeback the Second
Hello, my book darlings,
It’s been a few days, and they have been crazy. I went wedding dress shopping with my best friend, I started my first year of graduate school, I’ve put together a chair and desk (thanks dad), and I’ve gone through a birthday. I am officially one year older. Let’s all hope it’s a good one. I wish myself a productive year of reading and writing.
Today I am giving you more mini book reviews. I am very behind on reviews so I might just do another one of these. I don’t know. It feels like I’m cheating. I will discuss it with myself. In the meantime please enjoy my random thoughts and opinions about these books. It’s a mixed bag of genres this time and I hope you enjoy it.
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan- Rating: 10/10- My precious babies do not deserve this treatment. This is the book. The book with the big battle for civilization. The amount of pressure put on those kids is ridiculous. They are all so young and have already been through so much. The Titan Lord Chronos has risen and is causing havoc everywhere. Volcanos are exploding, natural disasters are happening, and all of New York has been put to sleep. Things are extremely not good, to say the least. Some of my favorite scenes take place in this book. Percy takes a relaxing dip in the River Styx, you know to decrease his chances of dying. We find out Nico’s backstory and it was heartbreaking. We also found out what happened to make the oracle a walking corpse. We have Clarisse singlehandedly terrify an army. We have Percy jumping on olympian thrones like it’s nothing. We have Annabeth throw herself in front of a blade and save Percy’s life. We have Nico nag Hades until he gets his way. This book is just so good. So much happens in it, and so much gets set up for the next chapter. Most importantly we have the best underwater kiss of all time take place. Nothing beats that kiss in terms of epicness. There have been epic kisses in history, but not a single one was an underwater epic kiss.
The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa- Rating 7.5/10- I was so frustrated with all the men and their attitude in this book. For most of the novel, they acted like Meghan had no brain in her pretty little head. While Meghan has had her moment of reckless and crazy I never doubted she has a brain and knows how to use it. She is going through a lot of changes in her life, most of the changes traumatic and she was coping pretty well despite it. I just could not deal with all the men acting like she was an unreasonable idiot who could not be trusted to do anything. In my opinion, she should have left them to argue with each other about whatever they wanted and just done her thing. As the story progresses she gets more and more assertive. I had hopes for Ash as he trained her to sword fight but, then he threw a hissy fit like a toddler because she did something all by herself and did not need him. Someone needs to do some serious growth as a person. Luckily he gets a book of his own to grow in, Meghan has done her part. By the end of the story, she figured out who she is and what she is capable of. She didn’t need anyone anymore. If someone was in her life it was because she wanted them there. She decided to banish Ash because she knew that was the only way for him to live. She became the freaking queen of the Iron Realm and I think she will be amazing at it. Yes, she’s young but she is smart, and she figured out her priorities. Go, Meghan. Men, you all need to take a second and think about how you’re coming across. Please sit in time out for the next hundred years or so and consider your life choices.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman- Rating 8/10- if you want to know how to read a book by accident gather close and listen to my tale. First, you borrow an audiobook from the library, then you put it on to see if you like the narration, then you spend the next three hours listening to the whole thing. It’s just like with naps, I can’t take a twenty-minute nap, I will end up taking a three-hour nap. Many nights all I get is three hours of sleep total. My naps are no naps. They a full night’s sleep. And this is how you read a book by accident. This book is so well written. It is a middle-grade novel, and so the world-building leaves something to be desired, but the storytelling is impeccable. Neil Gaiman does a lot of show don’t tell and I love it. I have recently endured a book that did nothing but tell so this was a much-needed change of pace. There were a few moments that have legitimately terrified me. The button eyes were one. When Coraline was told she could stay in the Other reality forever if she just had her eyes replaced with buttons I had to pause the narration. I am a girl who has a problem with having anything pointed at her eyeballs. Recently I went to the eye doctor and they tried to take the pressure of my eyes with an instrument that looks more like a thermometer than anything else and it was impossible. My eyes will simply close. I cannon control that reaction. So imagining the process of having your eyes replaced with battens was terrifying to me on multiple levels. The second thing to legitimately terrify me: the singing rats. No thank you. No thank you. I am busy and cannot deal with this. I am leaving the country. I liked the cat. You have to like a talking cat. It says all the things you wish to say but cannot because of social conventions. Coraline was such a clever girl, and I loved her. I would have given this book a higher rating if we were given a little bit more world-building and explanation behind the Other Mother and the creepy rats.
Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop- Rating 5/10- I have many mixed feelings. On one hand, I was fascinated by the world and the magic, but on the other, the abuse, rape, and, pedophilia were not okay. Often I have no issues with violence and rape because they make sense in the context and don’t seem excessive to the story, the balance is very fine but it exists for me. This book swayed way past the line. The pedophilia painted in the guise of nobility was extremely disturbing. We were supposed to admire the “hero” for not giving in to his body and having sex with a twelve-year-old. I’m sorry good sir that is not olay no matter how you paint it. Yeah, she’s made of magic. Yeah, she’s special. Yeah, she’s the most powerful creature in existence. She is still twelve and if you have issues with that sit-down and spend a few hundred years thinking about what made you like this. Yet I was still fascinated by the magic and the storyline and where everyone is going. I was glad that it was a woman who rescued the future queen of the world and not a man. The men claim they serve worthy women yet in their eyes no one is ever worthy. Maybe if you helped you could change things. But instead, most of you whine. Okay granted some of you are sort of dead so you have some leeway. I also have a bone to pick with the author about the names. Seatan, Daemon, and Lucivar are the names of the three main male characters. Are you kidding me? I don’t even know how to react. I guess I will just laugh and put that theology degree of mine to use when I can. So if you are asking if I recommend this book the answer is yes, but the answer is no, but the answer is yes. Yeah just… I’m going to go get some cake while my brain processes. I will be reading the next book because I am in now and my curiosity needs to be satisfied.
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane- rating 7/10- This one I picked randomly. I have heard about the movie on multiple occasions, but have not watched it because I have a general rule that I have to read the book before I watch the movie. I knew there was a plot twist. But I didn’t pay enough attention to have it registered in my head. I liked this book. I did not love it. I had a hard time connecting to the characters. I knew we had an unreliable narrator, that was not the problem was that I could not sympathize with him. I didn’t truly like anyone. I admire the author for using the rules of writing against the reader. The rule is: start in the middle of the action. We do, and it turns out that’s where the experiment starts so we have to start there. I did not like men being the only ones with power. All the women were victims. They were there to make Tedy feel guilty and conflicted. I don’t like that in a book. But I still could not stop reading. The tension leaped off the page, the mystery was compelling, and the feeling that we do not know something would not let me put the book down.
Alrighty my lovelies, this is all for today. I hope you liked this collection of reviews and my little life update. September so far has been a pretty good month (knock on wood with me here), and I hope it continues in this same positive vein as we move further into it.
See you all next time,
Anna
