Fast Paced

Posted : 1 month, 2 weeks ago on 26 August 2008 10:19 (A review of Bombproof)

Not bad for an action/thriller, something of which I usually prefer to watch in a movie but this kept me reading.
Perfect example of, not only people individually jumping to conclusions, but society as a whole jumping to conclusions especially with current paranoia and preoccupation with terrorism over the years. Something that this novel addresses very well.
A good writing style too as it was fast paced, fitting in with the subject and making it very hard to put it down.

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Hello There Sunshine

Posted : 1 month, 2 weeks ago on 25 August 2008 08:22 (A review of Sunshine)

It's not often I find it hard to rate a book but it happens and this turned out to be one of those books.
I gave it a seven although I wanted to give it more but it can't be more. The few reasons I want to give it more then a seven is 1. I like the vampire. I thought as a vampire with his lack of humanity it was apt, especially after reading a paranormal romance (urgh I hate that term) I wanted to read about a vampire that actually turned out to be vampirish, not romanticised and made human.
2. I love how Sunshine acted towards events. So many books where the character goes through certain experiences they seem to not always suffer shock like a real person would and, somehow, accept and embrace the transition too easily. When it came to Sunshine, I found the way the character was written with her reactions to be far more believable then other stories.
3. I had a hard time putting it down. I think that says a lot, especially when I've been having trouble getting into any book lately but with this one I had a hard time putting it down.
There's also the style which at times bothered me because I'm so used to waiting for a chapter to end to be able to go and do something but McKinley didn't do clearly defined chapters (there were breaks but that's not good enough for me), but on the other hand I feel it added to, not necessarily to the fluidity of it, but the continuity.
As for the fluidity, and the reasons why I couldn't bring myself to give it more then a seven, I didn't feel it flowed much at all for all it's continuity. To me it read disjointedly. I felt there wasn't enough connecting detail between scenarios, as if the author thought it was fine to gloss over some areas or skip finer detail.
That and perhaps more detail about the world Sunshine lived in rather then waffling on about her and her heritage might have been nice. At least I would have liked more explanations for certain words and phrases because sometimes those certain words didn't always seem to fit in with the meaning I arrived at for them.
Maybe that's just me.
Otherwise it was a pretty good read to pass the time and I would recommend it for vampire nuts like myself seeing as, for me anyway, it turned out to have a proper portrayal of a vampire.

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The Lace Reader

Posted : 1 month, 3 weeks ago on 14 August 2008 10:55 (A review of The Lace Reader: A Novel)

The Lace Reader is a book I didn't really know what was about but one I'm glad I read. I found it to be so utterly engrossing, especially with Barry's writing style which is direct and brusque, making it literally a page turner. Which amazed me because for a style like that I don't expect to become so engrossed. In fact I'm not usually a speed reader but The Lace Reader is one of the very few books that I became so absorbed in I couldn't help but read it quickly.
I was taken by surprise with it. It wasn't predictable like I find so many books to be, it had lovely characters who were quirky but at the same time completely normal to me (might be because I'm slightly eccentric myself, who knows), and the ending literally took me by surprise itself. It was something I wasn't expecting and it made everything come together so perfectly especially as you can't help expecting something else and then it all gets turned on it's head.
I also love how it had little snippets of lace reading at the beginning of every chapter. I think that was a nice touch.

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Alien Sex, Not What You Think

Posted : 2 months ago on 7 August 2008 11:43 (A review of Rock'n'Roll Babes from Outer Space)

Fantastic! I might be bias because I'm an Aussie who has hung around the places mentioned in the book and I loved the 90's but this book had me hooked by the first few pages.
By page three I had already laughed at some of it and by page six I had decided that I would have to read the rest of Jaivin's book after this one.
It's such a fun, fast paced novel that really packs a punch. The use of slang and innuendo's are hilarious and make for an even more entertaining read. It has a lot of sex, drugs and music and I think that's what so great about it, because even though it has aliens it represents the 90's subculture so well. Plus the Aussie slang makes it really refreshing, well for an Aussie, to read. I don't know how it would go over with someone outside of Australia though. You might want to get your hands on a slang dictionary just in case but I highly recommend it, given Jaivin's creative and amusing imagination.

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Breaking Dawn

Posted : 2 months ago on 7 August 2008 11:18 (A review of Breaking Dawn (Twilight Series, Book 4))

Well I'm a tad disappointed, unfortunately. On one hand I loved the book because I love the series and the characters. The first part had me so hooked. The change of perspective in book/part 2 (Breaking dawn is done in three parts or three "books") was great and probably my most favourite part of the whole thing but there was something lacking come part 3.
Then there are some of the things that happened that I was not expecting. That had me stopping in disbelief, for the most part I found it hard to put down but unlike the other books in the series I found it easier to put down when I had to. At first I thought perhaps I was more disappointed from the book because the series had ended but after thinking on it for awhile I realise it's because of the book itself. For starters all the drama and intrigue seemed to be in the first half of the book or coming to a close at the end of part 2. Then there was waiting for something exceptional to happen with Bella. Sure something happened eventually but when it did I was left wondering "was that all?", which brings me to the last confrontation and well for all the build up and expectation I think it fell short.
I still love the book and enjoyed it as far as a good little read goes but it's nowhere near my favourite in the series. I think the best thing to do is, if you do read this book, to read it without high expectations (a bit hard for all the Twilight fans out there I'm sure).

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Beauty's Punishment

Posted : 3 months ago on 9 July 2008 10:23 (A review of Beauty's Punishment)

I think this is a great continuation from the first novel and although I love all three at times this would have to be my favourite. The fact that it offers a new experience for the slaves to be in makes it seem far more brutal and far more interesting. I think it helps to add more depth and then there is the introduction of a new character and the story being told from their perspective as well as Beauty’s. I quite like the new perspective and seeing as it is a different slave to what Beauty is (a different type of slave) I think it adds a better dimension compared to the first but only in so far that it helps add more dimension to Beauty’s character.
Then there is the introduction to Laurent (my favourite character) and seeing as these books are so short and it’s really only feeling like it’s getting to the heart of it just as it ends I always get a bit upset at the ending because of it’s abruptness. In saying that I think it’s an abruptness that’s needed to continue the slaves growth, but still I like the brutality, mainly because I’ve found it to be a more colourful novel and even more detailed then the first.

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Setting The Stage

Posted : 3 months ago on 9 July 2008 10:02 (A review of The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty)

I can’t help comment/review this book from the perspective of someone who has read it before and has recently read it again.
As a whole I like to think of the trilogy like a flower. The first novel is the bud and then by the time you get to the end of the third novel it’s in full bloom.
Claiming starts of with innocent little Beauty being “awakened” by the Prince. I like how innocent Beauty is because as the reader you’re innocent to this new world she is introduced to as well, this being a fairy tale after all, and you get to warm up to it like she does as if this is the setting stage for what is to come. By the end of it Beauty is still innocent but she’s really only touched the surface and so has the book so the ending isn’t really all that surprising and I think the perfect prelude to the next one.
I highly recommend this for anyone into the SM genre or if you are an erotic lit reader but want some shock value then by all means read it. Mind you, if you’re narrow minded forget about it because the “shocks” (when I say shocks I mean for vanilla people) start right from the beginning and become more intense, imaginative and descriptive as Rice delves further into the psychological factors of it.

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Great Read

Posted : 3 months ago on 9 July 2008 08:48 (A review of The Host: A Novel)

Yet again Meyer has written a book that I find quite painful to put down, it's too addictive for that. It's "science fiction for people who don't like science fiction" which is the perfect description and actually made me want to read it more in the beginning. Sure it's a story about alien invasion and it has aliens mentioned constantly through out but you get to a point where you don't really think about aliens because when it comes down to it this is really a story about humanity and human emotions then body snatchers, but then again it's very interwoven with body snatchers.
I love the characters in this story, they're such stronger characters to what I was expecting and the detail is great too. Sure it was a bit of a slow starter but mainly it's because it felt like the story was building up to something and by about the 50-75 page area you can't help but be swept up in it, utterly addicted and wanting to find out how two entities inside one body could possibly co-exist.
If you like a little bit of science fiction but don't want to read something saturated with it then I highly recommend this because the science fiction aspect of it is really just a back drop for an idea.

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The Amulet of Samarkand

Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 27 June 2008 01:07 (A review of The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 1))

Recently I’ve been reading more books with mistakes and less detail which made this book such a relief to read. Not only was it well written, there weren’t any major mistakes (bravo to the editor) and it was quite descriptive without being overly done.
It’s set in a modern London but with a magical difference, magicians are the ones that run the country. Young children are given up by their parents to be apprenticed as magicians and then they go on to working in parliament or some other clerical job. This is what happens to Nathaniel, the main character, at a young age.
The story touches on subjects such as corruptness in government, hierarchy, prejudice and even has undertones of a totalitarian nature. A direction I found interesting and something of which could be daunting to it’s younger readers but thanks to it’s delivery and one particular character I think it could be easier to absorb, for younger readers that is, rather then confusing.
The character I’m referring to is Bartimaeus the djinni (Genie), quite a sardonic character who gives some comic relief and even a break from Nathaniel who I found to be quite an arrogant and aggravating character mainly because he is so blind to the bigger picture and is succumbing to the prejudice and corruption of the other magicians.
It was a bit disconcerting at first with Bartimaeus because it goes from being 3rd person to 1st person in a couple of paragraphs but eventually you’re able to get over that with the wisecracks and the footnotes. Footnotes are where Bartimaeus breaks off from the story telling and either informs or insults. It’s pretty amusing at times and I recommend reading all the footnotes.
Nathaniel’s part on the other hand is told via 3rd person and through out the story you go from both character’s point of view.
This is the first book in the trilogy but it could have been done as a stand alone novel with how it was written (no cliff-hanger ending). In fact if it wasn’t for wanting to know if Nathaniel succumbs to being a pompous prejudiced git like the other magicians or comes to his senses I’d probably not be interested in continuing on with the story.

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Dull and Duller

Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 23 June 2008 06:54 (A review of Spartan)

Talk about exasperating material. I can’t tell you if it was a good story or a good ending because I never finished it and I'm not going to attempt it again. I couldn’t do that to myself. I can tell you though that after 100 pages I still found it ridiculously hard to get into. I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that it wasn’t an in-depth story. Rather it felt like skimming the whole way. As if the writer was just giving you an overview of events that encompassed years. Sure down the line it may have mattered when or if he finally got more to the main characters but I wasn’t going to keep going after 100 pages of boredom just to find out. I’m not that masochistic.

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