Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins is the first in a loose trilogy of contemporary, cutesy young adult romance novels. It is followed by Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After. It tells the story of Anna Oliphant who is spending a year studying in Paris at the fictional School of America in Paris. She makes friends and has a romance with Etienne St Claire a young Londoner also studying at the school. What I liked The setting. I adored the setting. The school sounded fantastic and I loved Anna’s and Etienne’s strolls through Paris. I’ve only spent a couple of days in Paris myself, and I would have liked to have spent more. Perkins really brought out the sense of the city in her writing. The character development. I loved seeing how Anna grew in self confidence during her stay in Paris. The Anna at the end is a very different person from the one who spent her first evening in the school crying into her pillow with homesickness. I also felt that the development was earned. Her experiences in Paris and the friends she makes there allow for such a…
In my recent reading roundup I mentioned that I felt The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black is a poor man’s Harry Potter. I stand by that opinion. It is almost impossible to read The Iron Trial without comparing it to Rowling’s masterpiece. Let us review; a young infant born towards the end of a magical war is the sole survivor of a massacre which leaves him motherless and with a physical mark of the attack. There may or may not be some shenanigans involving souls. This massacre is the prelude to a decade of truce. Eleven or twelve years later, the young boy starts to attend magic school where he becomes best friends with a boy and girl, and makes an enemy of another rich and arrogant student. He is taught by a kindly if eccentric Master and they have lots of adventures. The one with the power to defeat the enemy has been revealed to the wizarding world. There is a confrontation at the end, and it seems the enemy may not be as dormant as he seemed. Heck, the story even closes with the protagonist in the infirmary having a heart to heart with said…
[challenge-progress for=”Realm of the Elderlings” bg=”black” font=”white”] [book-info title=”Ship of Destiny” author=”robin-hobb-2″] Progress: Ship of Destiny 100% complete.Progress: Fool’s Errand 4% complete. Woohoo, two books down, three to go! I finished Ship of Destiny today, the second longest of the five books I’m reading for the Realm of the Elderlings reading challenge. I also started on Fool’s Errand, the first in the Tawny Man Trilogy. Darn, I miss Whispersync for Voice already :o( The Liveship Traders series is quite differently structured to the Farseer Trilogy. It contains multiple story strands and multiple points of view, whereas Farseer is purely from Fitz’ point of view. The joy of the Farseer trilogy is getting to know Fitz and those he loves in great depth. With the Liveship Traders, the characters didn’t speak to me nearly as much (Amber excepted) but I loved watching how all the disparate plots came together in a really satisfying ending. I am looking forward to getting back to Fitz and the Fool though! Back with more tomorrow!
The Shadow’s Curse by Amy McCulloch is the second and final book in her Knots Sequence duology and follows on from Oathbreaker’s Shadow. I received a free copy from Random House of Canada in exchange for an honest review. I have previously reviewed the first in the series – check out my review here. The novel takes up where we left off in the earlier book with Raim seeking to learn the history of his mysterious broken vow as well as to rescue his friend Wadi. It has been a while since I read Oathbreaker’s Shadow and for a couple of pages I was a little confused. However, McCulloch quickly and skillfully recapped the main points so that I was soon up to speed. What I liked Tight narrative structure. The Shadow’s Curse switches between two points of view, Raim’s and Wadi’s, following two converging main storylines. Wadi’s storyline also serves to present the main antagonist’s, Kareh’s, story. This works well to create tension for the inevitable confrontation when these paths come together. Both Raim and Wadi are working towards specific goals. In Raim’s case, this aim is explicitly stated early on – to rid himself of his oathbreaker…
Graduation Day by Joelle Charbonneau is the third and final book in The Testing trilogy. It continues the story of Cia Vale, survivor of the brutal University entrance exam known as TheTesting, University student and rebel as she attempts to end The Testing. i have enjoyed both previous books and enjoyed reading the ending of the story. What I liked The protagonist. I really liked Cia as a YA protagonist. She has her head on her shoulders and gives great consideration to the consequences of her actions. She’s very much of the watch and wait mould. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t take action, but she doesn’t act without thinking. These character traits are what lead to her central position in the drama. The story would have played very differently with a Katniss Everdeen or a Tris Prior as the protagonist. The themes. The theme of Testing is continued throughout the series. This is continued in Graduation Day when Cia must test the loyalty of those she wishes to have as allies, and she herself continues to be tested in more ways that one as she seeks to end the horrific University entrance exam. Trust is also a major theme in…
Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly is the first in the Waterfire Saga and tells the story of mermaid princess Serafina, who, along with several of her friends, is called to fulfil an ancient prophecy and prevent an untold evil from rising. What i liked The worldbuilding. There are not that many mermaid books around that I’m aware of – Anna Banks’ Syrena Legacy series excepted – so I found this a fresh change. I loved the world Donnelly created, complete with languages and histories and mythologies. The little fishy reference such as merlfriend instead of girlfriend were rather amusing. The pacing. Donnelly keeps the plot moving along briskly with something always happening and a new danger to escape. What I didn’t like Bland characters. While the characters were OK, and their mermaidness added some interest, other than that they were cookie-cutter YA heroines with little depth to them. Generic plot. The plot is your generic teens have to bind together to track down the McGuffin to prevent the Big Bad from doing what he or she wants to do. So far there were no interesting twists to this. The narration. I started listening to the audiobook, but within…
Midnight Crossroad is the first in a new supernatural mystery series from Sookie Stackhouse writer Charlaine Harris. it has a very similar feel to Sookie and if you enjoyed that series you will likely get a lot of pleasure from Midnight Crossroad, too. This new series is set in Texas rather than Louisiana, but keeps that small-town feel. It centres on the inhabitants of a small town, Midnight, and the secrets they hide. I’m not certain if this is intended to be set in the same world as Sookie. It’s perhaps a little early to tell – it could go either way. There is nothing to say one way or the other. In any case, it is very enjoyable. What I liked Ensemble cast. Unlike The Southern Vampire Mystery series, which concentrates mainly on Sookie, and is told from her point of view, Midnight Crossroad has multiple points of view from interesting characters. I enjoyed hearing from all of them, and it was interesting hearing the story from different sides. Each of the characters had his or her own secret and reason for moving to this small town. Sometimes I did struggle to remember which characters know…
Midnight Crossroad is the first in a new supernatural mystery series from Sookie Stackhouse writer Charlaine Harris. it has a very similar feel to Sookie and if you enjoyed that series you will likely get a lot of pleasure from Midnight Crossroad, too. This new series is set in Texas rather than Louisiana, but keeps that small-town feel. It centres on the inhabitants of a small town, Midnight, and the secrets they hide. I’m not certain if this is intended to be set in the same world as Sookie. It’s perhaps a little early to tell – it could go either way. There is nothing to say one way or the other. In any case, it is very enjoyable. What I liked Ensemble cast. Unlike The Southern Vampire Mystery series, which concentrates mainly on Sookie, and is told from her point of view, Midnight Crossroad has multiple points of view from interesting characters. I enjoyed hearing from all of them, and it was interesting hearing the story from different sides. Each of the characters had his or her own secret and reason for moving to this small town. Sometimes I did struggle to remember which characters know…
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson is the story of Ursula Todd who has the ability to rewind mistakes in her life. I actually found this quite a difficult book to review. There was a lot I liked about it, but a lot that really irritated me, too. I was really torn about what rating to give it. There are minor spoilers in here, so I will hide them after the cut.
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson is the story of Ursula Todd who has the ability to rewind mistakes in her life. I actually found this quite a difficult book to review. There was a lot I liked about it, but a lot that really irritated me, too. I was really torn about what rating to give it. There are minor spoilers in here, so I will hide them after the cut.