Analyzing Books

Author: Lindsay Howard

  • The Princess Bride

    The Princess Bride

    Rating: 5 Stars

    Age Recommendation: 15+

    Warnings: Violence, Character Death, Torture

    Genres: Fantasy, Action and Adventure, Romance, Fiction

    Pages: 450 (Compact hardback version)

    “Now a great fool,” he began, “would place the poison in his own goblet, because he would know that only another great fool would reach first for what he was given. I am clearly not a great fool, so I will clearly not reach for your wine.”

    “That’s your final choice?”

    “No. Because you knew I was not a great fool, so you would know that I would never fall for such a trick. You would count on it. So I will clearly not reach for mine either.”

    “Keep going,” said the man in black.

    “I intend to.”

     

    The Princess Bride, by William Goldman, is not at all what I expected. Rather than simply being a fantastical story of a made up land, Goldman introduces us to a narrator, who tells us that his father was from Florin, and used to read him a story from his homeland. When the narrator’s son has a birthday coming up, his first instinct is to find a copy of the book for his son to read. The only problem, of course, is that his father cut out all of the boring parts, and only read Billy the good bits. So Billy takes it upon  himself to create an abridged version, along with italicized footnotes and more, mainly for his son but also for anyone who is interested.

    That story, of course, is interesting in itself. But the key to this book is the part most people will remember from the movie. Yes, we see a boy and his grandfather reading the book, but that’s not the focus of the piece, humorous or not. Instead, the movie focuses on Buttercup and Wesley, the main characters of the story our narrator is abridging for us.

    As much as I usually complain about seeing the movie before reading the book, I didn’t know – when I first saw the film – that it was even based on a book. And yet here it is. It was first published in 1973, by Harcourt, and continues to hold importance within our culture. My father has a T-shirt that has a printed image of one of those write-your-own-name tags you used to see on employees at stores, but it reads, “Hello, my name is: Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

    The writing is bafflingly funny, leading to embarrassing bouts of laughter in spaces entirely too public, such as the cafeteria in my dormitory on campus. Or on the bus, where I was reading this on the way to my internship. Needless to say, I got a few strange looks because of it. But I have no regrets. It was honestly the best choice for me right now, with everything leading up to graduation making my life feel incredibly hectic. I wanted something fun, something entertaining, and that wish was granted, a hundred times over.

    As far as who should read this book, I’d say this: if you’d let you kid watch the movie, they’ll be fine reading this. I put 15+ for the age recommendation mainly because the vocabulary is fairly elevated, and there’s a fair few battles that happen between characters, ranging in type from a battle of wits to battles of swords. Not to mention the whole torture thing. But on the whole, it’s great fun. (Talk about a weird time to use that sentence.)

    I’m glad I waited to read this, as I’ve seen the movie countless times, and this only makes it so much better. I’m heading home soon, and I’m sure I’ll start my break with a re-watch of the movie with my dad, so I can bother him throughout with comparisons between the book and the film. Even if you’ve seen the movie, then, it’s one of the books I most highly recommend, and absolutely my favorite in months.

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  • Romancing the Crime

    Romancing the Crime

     

    Rating: 3.5 Stars

    Age Recommendation: Adult (~16+)

    Warnings: Frequent Adult Language, Implied Sexual Content (nothing explicit)

    Genres: Crime, Murder Mystery, Romance

    Pages: 421 (paperback edition, provided in exchange for a review)

    Lou glanced at the back jacket. “Fletcher Manning. Turns out he’s a best-selling novelist. And he was so impressed by your little performance, he wants to shadow you as part of the research he’s doing on his new book.”

    Cory leaned back, letting the counter support her. A novelist? He wanted to see her again.

    JW Robitaille’s Romancing the Crime is essentially a fresh take on a classic murder mystery, crime-solving novel, but it also includes a romance that has a strong footing within the story. The characters brought together are done so in a way that’s very similar to the television show Castle, and thus gives their interaction a great starting point. It’s very difficult to miss that common plot between this book and the series, but the story is one with a merit of its own.

    The research for this novel has clearly been done formidably, and the writing is – a good 95% of the time – quite spectacular. I did get lost a bit in the number of secondary characters that were introduced, but I understand that this book is the first in a series, and expect that these characters will be returning ones, or ones meant to help with this plot until we meet the new ones. As far as the plot goes, for the most part, everything seemed to line up and follow along with an understandable, realistic path. I struggled, though, when sometimes things seemed to go off on a tangent without explanation.

    For example, Marin decides in chapter four to ask about another detective’s brother seemingly out of the blue, with no obvious relation to the action that’s been happening in the book or even in the scene. Moments like that distract me from the story because even as I read along, I’m still stuck back at the start, wondering why it was brought up.

    Romancing the Crime also felt slightly problematic in regards to the way diversity was featured. I think that diversity is very important because it accurately represents the world we live in, but sometimes the characters in this story seemed to be described as a bit too long, or in a way that implies that they are somehow marked as an ‘other.’ And while that’s fair considering who Marin is, it felt a bit unnecessary and forced.

    In truth, the descriptions of Gainsville, Florida – the setting of Robitaille’s story – and the detailed knowledge of detectives and how they work were the real stars of Romancing the Crime. Those who love crime stories will find it easy to dive into this one and anyone who loves a bit of local information to help solidify a story will be pleased that the author has included so much of it. That decision certainly made it easier to imagine the scene and the world in which Marin’s investigation takes place.

    On the whole, the plot is one that easily engages those interested in knowing “Whodunit,” with many false leads and an ending the reader probably won’t see coming. For those that enjoy Romancing the Crime, Robitaille has written a few other novels, as well as screenplays and short stories that may need to be the next on their To-Be-Read list!

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  • Wayfarer

    Wayfarer

    Rating: 2 Stars

    Age Recommendation: 17+

    Warnings: Explicit scenes regarding intimacy, Strong language, Violence/torture

    Genres: Romance, Science Fiction, Action and Adventure

    Pages: 251 (paperback provided in exchange for an honest review)

     

    Adara flew. Space surrounded her and whispered to her of the secrets it held. She smiled as she followed the course and took the shuttle to the Pritchard. The Pritchard was a sleek ship. The hunter class ships were all bullet shaped with the bridge at the top back of the bullet. Excitement rippled through her with the first glimpse of it waiting for her. Something in her clicked into place and she felt at home again.

     

    Wayfarer, by Eileen Troemel, is a science fiction novel in some ways, but is really more of a romance novel set on a sci-fi backdrop. Adara is half-Wayfarer, which means that she has inherited some of her father’s ability to understand and see things about space that others can’t, even with more experience flying ships or with a certain piece of the universe. Her new captain, Decker Flannery, didn’t actually want to bring her on board as his third pilot, but after she does join his crew, he starts to see the importance she could have for his crew and in his life in general.

    Now, one thing that I felt actually worked was the setting and some of the plot devices used. Adara survived a ship’s explosion and saved many people on board, but couldn’t save everyone, and that causes some lingering resentment from others as well as within herself. And those problems lead to even bigger ones. That aspect of this book really seemed to work.

    I also felt that the progression of the two main relationships in the novel worked for the most part, even though one was happening out of sight of the reader. Although the story is told in third person, we follow Adara for the most part. I will say, however, that I did not expect the graphic scenes that occurred a few times throughout the story.

    That said, I did have a number of problems with the text, leading to the rating of only 2 out of 5 stars. I never like giving low ratings but I had trouble understanding some of the elements in Troemel’s novel.

    First and foremost, the writing was strange. Spare, choppy sentences aren’t always bad, but when an entire book is built up of them, it makes action difficult to follow. Everything happens more quickly when there are fewer commas to slow a reader’s pace, and sometimes that’s a really important trick to use. But it made the whole novel seem jumpy and short. There were also a number of grammar issues. For example, plurals and possessives were mixed up so rather than saying “heads” it might read “head’s,” and rather than saying “Adara’s” it might say “Adaras.” I’m not sure if that’s just an editing mistake or not. So as a would-be editor, the writing style and those mistakes were fairly distracting.

    The lore of Adara’s species was also very strange. That is, her background as a half-Wayfarer and the rules about that sort of person. She is still human, but with a better eye for seeing disruptions in space; she’s able to stay awake for longer periods of time, endure more pain, and heals more quickly. I have all of that tucked away and understood. But the main problem I had with the Wayfarer culture is that I couldn’t understand why they were considered outsiders or why they were disliked. Wayfarers are said to be more promiscuous, which I suppose would be a valid complaint in a world where that sort of thing isn’t discussed or is not done very often. But people in this universe’s culture talk about it frequently, have very strong curse words which are used often, and Adara’s two best friends are also quite obviously doing exactly the same as she is with her love interest, so I didn’t understand their problem with her at all.

    Really, Adara should’ve been quite important and popular, so to speak, from the start. She has all of these great abilities that could help her as a pilot, but she’s run into some bad luck. And when that last happened, she saved over fifty people all by herself. I feel like that deserves more credit than it’s given.

    Over all, this novel felt like a romance novel with a bit of science fiction world building. There are others in the series, which makes me think that this book is something of a set up for the others, but I can’t say for sure as I haven’t read them. I do believe that fans of the adult romance genre would really quite enjoy this, but those coming in believing it to be a science-fiction heavy story may not feel as strongly about it.

    That said, the author has written other sorts of books that might be great for those who enjoy the Wafarer series, so a dig around Goodreads should help out with finding more of those. Troemel is quite prolific, and her many works can be found online, for e-readers as well.

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  • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

    Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

    Rating: 2.5 Stars

    Age Recommendation: 11/12 + (Middle Grade)

    Warnings: Violence, Character Death

    Genres: Fantasy, Action and Adventure, Coming-of-Age

    Pages: 308 (Hardback edition)

     

    ALBUS: We’re ready to put our lives at risk.

    SCORPIUS: Are we?

    AMOS (gravely): I hope you have it in you.

     

    NOTE: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child actually has three credited creators: J.K. Rowling and John Tiffany helped to create the story, but Jack Throne is the actual playwright. So I will be addressing each of them individually throughout this review.

    To start, I want to say that I did originally consider giving Harry Potter and the Cursed Child four stars instead of 2.5 because I did really enjoy reading it. But in hindsight, I do understand where the other average or negative reviews are coming from. This story, while laugh-out-loud funny and undoubtedly astounding to view on a live stage, breaks Rowling’s own rules, and that’s a huge problem for fans.

    I don’t want to spoil anything for those who haven’t read it, but let’s start with my absolute favorite part: Scorpius Malfoy. He has immediately risen to my top five characters list, because of his sheer wit. He’s also very caring in a way that most readers assumed his father could never be. I am not personally in that camp, as I tend to go with the book version of Draco Malfoy, who quite clearly seems redeemable. But Scorpius is immediately a sympathetic character because of rumors about who his actual father might be. But I won’t get too into that for fear of ruining the surprise of the story. Thorne has created incredible lines that, honestly, I wish I had an excuse to quote. They’re just that funny.

    Albus Potter was great too, and his personal struggle felt entirely founded and reasonable, which is impressive for a play. The first half of the play does cover his formative Hogwarts years, though briefly, but I think it works despite how quickly it went by. In a live production, I imagine it wouldn’t feel so fast. Again, Thorne’s writing feels alive in a way that plays almost never do for me, so I really did enjoy reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

    Despite those two fantastic characters, many of them were bizarre. Ron Weasley was not his usual self, seeming to deflate as a character. There’s a Trolley Witch, as she’s called in the character list, who seems like something out of Percy Jackson instead of Harry Potter; and the main problem I had with this book? Delphi. As a character, she is extremely problematic. She breaks suspension of disbelief for the reader like nothing Rowling has ever created before. There were so many problems with lore being either ignored or changed and as a fan since I was only five years old, it was actually sort of offensive to see that she didn’t stick to the world we are used to and try to find a story that fit within it.

    To be honest, I didn’t need an eighth book. And this felt like Rowling, Thorne and Tiffany decided to write a piece of fanfiction, then put it on the stage in two parts. Which, of course, means more productions in the same way that the Fantastic Beasts films will be a trilogy for reasons yet unknown. But here’s hoping that the movies stick to the lore, as they’re set in the past rather than the future. Or, if we’re going by the new Harry Potter timeline, the present.

    As for John Tiffany’s work on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, he is a renowned director and I don’t doubt that the effects and stage presence must be brilliant. Incredibly so. But as much as I would love to see it live, I don’t know that I would want to go back twice to do so. I do understand that the play would probably be massively long, however, were it not split.

    At any rate, the main issue for most everyone, it seems, it the lore. Which, to be clear, is the term for a story/world’s rules, backstory, character list, things like that. The things that the author creates themselves are called Canon, and the things that the fans imagine or wish for or wonder about, those are called Headcanons (because they’re made up in someone else’s head, I suppose). This play felt like it was almost entirely a piece of fanfiction, built around those headcanon ideas. Delphi as a character should not be possible. The plot device that Draco uses should not be possible, nor should the one that Albus and Scorpius use to create the majority of the story’s conflict. I understand why Rowling let the latter happen, but a great deal of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child seems unlikely based on Rowling’s previous works.

    Now, that isn’t to say that I didn’t quite like this play. As I said, I nearly gave this four stars and did rate it as such on Goodreads initially. But as I looked into it more and considered it, I understood where people felt the faults were coming from. As a reading experience, it was definitely worth four stars. But as a work in the Harry Potter universe and franchise, I couldn’t let myself leave that rating.

    A great deal of readers probably won’t even register those lore differences, as some were probably the sort who preferred watching the films, or maybe who only read the books once and enjoyed them but didn’t commit a lot of the lore to memory. Which is entirely valid and shouldn’t be discredited. But, that said, those people might actually enjoy this much more than people like me, who love the books far better than any other series, and who grew up reading and re-reading, and then watching the movies a silly number of times.

    So, as much fun as I had reading it, I certainly don’t feel like it’s part of canon, and I’m not particularly inclined to include it as such in my mental log of the plot arc of Harry Potter and his friends. Perhaps if it had been created sooner, people would have been more receptive, but as something that I’d read for fun, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is spectacularly entertaining.

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  • The Devil in Canaan Parish

    The Devil in Canaan Parish

     

    Rating: 2 Stars

    Age Recommendation: 17+

    Warnings: Mentions of specific body parts in reference to lust or scenes involving sex, strong language (mainly towards the end of the novel), domestic violence, racist characters

    Genres: Historical fiction, Drama, Mystery, Suspense

    Pages: 204 (paperback edition provided in exchange for a review)

     

    “It was 1934, and my mother, my little sister Gracie, and I were living in Ida Mae Wilson’s boarding house in Savannah. My father was on the road to Atlanta, trying to scrape together enough to buy more wares to sell, and he had left us behind. I didn’t mind. It was one of the few times when I could rest from out nomadic existence. When I felt that we had a home, even if it wasn’t ours.”

    The Devil in Canaan Parish, by Jackie Shemwell, is an intricately detailed account of Southern Louisiana in the 1950s. The most interesting part of the novel, far and away, was the level of research that obviously went into the writing of this story. The biggest problem I had came from trying to find the plot. Upon finishing, this is the key information I feel I’ve been left with as a reader (without including spoilers, of course):

    Bram and Sally Palmer met at university and she decided to marry him despite the fact that he didn’t really fit in with her parents’ well-off lives in Techeville, Louisiana. They’ve been experiencing problems with their relationship for years now, and Bram is really quite tired of it. One night, a storm rips through town and at one store, a necklace is stolen, while at another, a Cajun girl named Melee washes up looking for a place to work. Bram brings her home to work in their household and from there a lot of trouble ensues.

    Sally has been wanting to have a baby but is quite ill. Bram takes a liking to Melee, even though he shouldn’t. And a lot of secrets are kept.

    Basically, it’s the making for a great domestic, realistic fiction novel. But I had a number of problems with it, which I feel I ought to address in order to explain the rating I gave this book. First, though, I do want to say that lovers of historical fiction – particularly set in the American South – could very well adore The Devil in Canaan Parish. I’m not saying that anyone shouldn’t. But I, personally, had trouble reading it.

    The other main problem, besides my struggling to find the story arc, was the editing. It seems like the text wasn’t edited for formatting, and may not have been line edited before the final draft was published. By that, I mean that there were a large number of typographical errors. Paragraphs weren’t indented, punctuation was missing, quotation marks did not appear at the beginning of a new paragraph when the same character continued speaking. The final line of The Devil in Canaan Parish is neither indented nor punctuated in any way. I don’t know if that was a stylistic choice, but it didn’t match the central portion of the text. Most of the errors occurred at the beginning and end. The other typing-based issue came from words being switched out incorrectly (for example, “here” instead of “hear”).

    I do want to look at the plot as well, without giving too much away. It wasn’t until about the 100-page mark (in other words, halfway through the story) that the plot actually picked up. The first half is almost entirely backstory, which is fine and necessary in its own way, but perhaps it could have been worked in throughout the story so that the current plot could take more precedence?

    Something I did appreciate, however, was that nearly all of the characters were important to the plot, rather than thrown in as extras. Even minor characters ended up being important, although one of the main plot devices at the end came out of nowhere and wasn’t hinted at beforehand, so that confused me greatly.

    If the reader goes into this story wanting as much historical detail as possible and is the sort of person who loves backstory and character building of that nature, the editing errors may not bother them. I’m the sort of person that notices those things easily because editing novels is something that I want to do in the future. And I wanted so badly to enjoy The Devil in Canaan Parish. When I was offered the chance, I put it at the top of my list and the front of my schedule, and I think that maybe I just got too distracted to fully take it in.

    The descriptions are easy to understand, and the opening paragraph is both charming and beautiful. It isn’t hard to imagine that, were those errors not in place and if the backstory wasn’t so overwhelming at the beginning, I would have easily fallen in love with The Devil in Canaan Parish.

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  • A Stalled Ox

    A Stalled Ox

    Rating: 4 Stars

    Age Recommendation: 16+

    Warnings: Violence, Strong Language. Potential triggers for those living with or caring for those with mental illnesses.

    Genres: Horror, Thriller, Mystery

    Pages: 102 (paperback, given to me in exchange for a review)

    “I have power here. That’s why I didn’t want him showing you what’s upstairs, I didn’t want you messing this up for me… too late for that now, ain’t it?”

    “It’s a shame your God doesn’t share everyone else’s love for you.”

    Dean Moses’s novella, A Stalled Ox, is a story of about one hundred pages that follows a piece of Howard Harrington’s life as he takes on a new investigation. He is a detective, going undercover to look into a cult that worships a character who calls himself “God,” because the members are said to eat meat in a time where there isn’t any on the market. After injectable enhancements created a genetic disease and killed off livestock all over the world, the United States has started trying to find a solution, protecting the last of each animal to no avail. Howard’s investigation proves that “God” and his flock are much more dangerous than they ever expected.

    Howard and his detective partner, Linda, aren’t quite sure what to expect upon arrival, and Howard isn’t exactly known for having a great track record when it comes to jobs. Linda is a strong female character, though the reader is given a chance to see her vulnerable side as well, which made her feel even more realistic and tangible.

    The descriptions were not lyrical or drawn out in any way, but I don’t feel that they needed to be or should have been. Instead, they matched the feeling of the novella as a whole – stark, brief, but powerful nonetheless. My main problem when it came to the writing had to do with Howard’s thoughts throughout. They were used to explain the back story of this version of the United States after 2020 when the animals began dying off. Those moments felt awkward and pulled me out of the story, but there weren’t very many of these expositional sections from him.

    Though short, A Stalled Ox takes on a multitude of social themes and problems that are prevalent in today’s world. The protagonist is the epitome of ‘diversity,’ as an LGBT, Black/Hispanic character. I could say more about him, but I’ve no intention of spoiling anything. I do want to say, however, that the diverse aspects of Howard are not the entire focus of the story, but instead help to tackle the themes brought up within the novel.

    The writing, in my opinion, took some time to get into and to fully understand. It oftentimes felt a little calculated or distancing, but I think that sometimes one has to look at something from a distance to truly understand the intention behind it or the strength that it holds. This story is powerful in ways that I honestly didn’t realize it would be when I first received it.

    A Stalled Ox is a timely story that many would be able to appreciate in today’s world. It’s graphic at times, as is fitting for the genre, but not to the extent that I felt uncomfortable reading it. It was a quick read, which only took me a couple of hours while I was on the train, and surprised me with each chapter. I am not usually a reader of the horror or thriller genres, but I’m very glad that I picked this one up.

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  • Me Before You

    Me Before You

    Rating: 5 Stars

    Age Recommendation: 17+ (Adult fiction/late Young Adult readers)

    Warnings: Triggers include strong language, character self-harm, character death, rape, and potential additional triggers for those living with or assisting those with disabilities

    Genres: Fiction, Drama, Coming-of-Age, Medical, Romance

    Pages: 409 (Paperback, Movie-tie-in edition)

    “I worked out what would make me happy, and I worked out what I wanted to do, and I trained myself to do the job that would make those two things happen.”

    “You make it sound so simple.”

    “It is simple,” he said. “The thing is, it’s also hard work. And people don’t want to put in a lot of work.”

     

    Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You, has written several other novels that I have not yet had the pleasure of reading, but this story is “scored on my heart,” as one of her characters might say. In truth, I picked it up initially because the film adaptation recently came out, but also because of a plethora of positive reviews I found on places across the internet. What I did not expect to find was a story that boldly addressed topics that many authors would shy away from.

    I did not expect to love Me Before You as much as I did. I knew, from the tellings of others, that it would probably make me cry. I’m a bit of a sap, which perhaps is why my tears lasted like fifty pages. I can own up to that. But usually it’s only movies, or books like Zusak’s The Book Thief that can get the waterworks turned on.

    The themes of choice, love, sacrifice and fear run rampant through this novel in the best possible way. Morals will be questioned, even on the reader’s part, and the recurring through had throughout might be something along the lines of “Why does my heart hurt?” Because it’s truly gut-wrenching in a way that only the most honest and brave stories can be.

    As with every book, it is sort of my job to point out any confusing parts or flaws that the book seems to possess. In this book, I only found one. Sometimes the point-of-view changes and can be confusing. For reference, if there is no name listed at the beginning of the chapter, then the POV has reverted back to that of our main character.

    For someone like me, who has spent a great deal of time in the United Kingdom, the slang, names and terminology used in Me Before You was easy to follow. It might be worth, however, checking if you aren’t sure. There are many things that, while reading, I realized I would have interpreted entirely differently before moving abroad. Now that I’m back home, it’s almost funny to think I wouldn’t have noticed before moving.

    As I write this, I am waiting for my mother to gather her things so we can go out and watch the movie, even though I only finished the book a few hours ago. Somehow, I just can’t get enough of it. I’ve shelved it with my other favorites and I have the distinct feeling that this might be one of those books I re-read every summer, just to remind myself of the lessons Moyes offers the reader.

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  • Winds of Aerathiea

    Winds of Aerathiea

    Rating: 2.5 Stars

    Age Recommendation: Young Adult

    Warnings: Would’ve been ranked as a Lower YA or even Middle Grade, but there is too much cursing for either

    Genre(s): Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, Action and Adventure

     

    “Liam and Red squatted in the shadows and peered up at the sight from behind an upturned car and a downed power pole. They began to see the full expanse of the vessel hovering over them. Liam had never seen anything like it. He would have said it was as big as any ship on the ocean, but this one gave you the impression it was much more at home in the sky.”

     

    Liam Waite is a boy, only fifteen, who is living the dangerous life of a survivor after a series of terrible natural disasters, and is now trying to make it despite a lack of supplies and food. One day, however, an airship comes down, looking for his father. He hasn’t seen his parents in months, but almost inadvertently joins the hunt, and ends up on a whirlwind of an adventure in order to do so. Along the way, he learns exciting things about his father, comes face to face with dragons, and creates bonds with a number of interesting characters. Winds of Aerathiea, by T. E. Adams, is the first in the Chronicles of Aerathiea and was released in October of last year.

    Winds of Aerathiea has an action-packed start, some well-thought out descriptions and a back story that is offered up to the reader very well. It is entirely likely that the first two chapters will hook whoever decides to pick it up. Unfortunately, I personally had issues with the text.

    On the whole, the plot is not what I had trouble with. Some things were a little repetitive, but the concept itself was interesting. The epilogue is a perfect set-up for a sequel, and I thought it was creative. However, I had issues with the way Winds of Aerathiea was written. I received an EPUB in exchange for an honest review on this site, and I found numerous mistakes in the copy (that is to say, the way in which the words were written on the document), as well as grammatical issues and problems with word choice.

    While reading, I came to the conclusion that it might simply be intended for younger readers, and thus the narration would be offered as through the eyes of the fifteen-year-old main character. I’m not entirely sure that that is the case, though, because there is a fair amount of cursing throughout. Also, are sections of the novel which are italicized and which give the characters further information, and there were issues there as well, grammatically, so I think that it may just be a series of mistakes.

    I found it difficult to focus on Winds of Aerathiea when the main character made misogynistic comments, quotation marks or commas were missing, things like that. I do think, however, that many readers might find the concept of a post-apocalyptic world interesting. Not that they should pick up the views of the main character, of course, but that’s entirely different.

    While some of the characters did not feel very fleshed out or easy to relate to, others did. While the text itself might benefit from an editor taking another look, fans of fantasy may appreciate the fantasy elements and things like magical creatures. It could very well be someone’s introduction to reading and enjoying fiction, provided the grammar and other things do not affect their ability to dive into the text, and I genuinely hope that it is.

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  • Fallen Angel

    Fallen Angel

    Rating: 4 Stars

    Age Recommendation: Upper Young Adult, New Adult +

    Warnings: Mention of and Attempted Rape, Character Death, Violence, Slight Language

    Genres: Fantasy (Supernatural), Romance, Action and Adventure

    Pages: 344 (EPUB version, provided in exchange for an honest review)

    “I had been unsure about the future, tossed into the rapids by things beyond my control, but I had never been so befuddled about what I was going to do to get myself where I wanted to go. Home was New York, I tried to remind myself. Or was it?”

    Evelynn is not an average student. She used to be a swimmer at a school in New York before she had to move up to live with her Aunt and Uncle in Montana after the death of her parents. She isn’t thrilled about getting involved in things like the cheer team or dating a boy on the football team, but those aren’t exactly the biggest of her problems. Referencing the fall of Satan in a novel that is something of a mix between Paradise Lost and the “Hush, Hush” series by Becca Fitzpatrick, Fallen Angel, by David Lamour, tells Evelynn’s story of love, fear, and angels versus demons.

    I wasn’t sure what to expect upon starting my read of this story, though I knew that Fallen Angel had received high ratings on Goodreads and similar sites. Once I hit chapter three or so, I was stuck. I stayed up past three in the morning to continue, despite having work that would need to be done the next afternoon. In truth, the story was pretty addicting.

    The descriptions in Fallen Angel are beautiful. I noted that from the very beginning, and any author who can make a world feel real and who can allow me to visualize what is happening automatically gets points in my book. Equally, it took me a little while to realize that this is being partly written in Evelynn’s diary, which actually makes it more interesting, in my opinion. Typically, diary-style writing is overly detailed. Things that people shouldn’t be able to recall later on. But that isn’t the case here, and I appreciate that greatly. I do wish that there had been some sort of italics or indication of what had been written by Evelynn and what hadn’t been, though. There were a few typos, grammar issues and spelling changes in the Epub I was sent in exchange for a review, but they didn’t really distract me very much from the story itself.

    One thing that threw me off, though, was the way Evelynn’s thoughts sometimes seemed a little too self-aware. Sometimes the comments seemed to come from Lamour and not from the character herself – for example, several comments are made early on about authors and writing style and even “instant-love.” I found it a little funny at first, but it did pull me out of the story a bit, as it didn’t seem to match the rest of the text.

    Evelynn as a character is mischievous, rather funny, and although she is hung up on her past, she of all people has a right to be. She is a reader with a good heart, making her easy to like. There are a few things in the first couple of chapters that seem to be included specifically to set her apart from “normal” girls or the “popular” group, which I feel is a bit of a YA habit at this point. It didn’t really bother me too much, but I did notice and feel that it was a little forced.

    The romantic interests in this story were portrayed in a different way than most love triangle-style characters and relationships are. In this case, it was clear who the “winner” of sorts would be, but neither really struck me as the ‘bad boy’ trope that so many are tired of.

    Overall, I found the text to be very funny, and the epilogue was a brilliant set-up for the next book. I am very glad I’ve had the chance to start the Fallen Angel series and I can’t wait for the sequel!

    Views: 47

  • Winter

    Winter

    Rating: 5 Stars

    Age Recommendation: Upper Young Adult + (Perhaps around 16 and up)

    Warnings: Character Death, Violence, Potential Triggers (mental illness)

    Genre(s): Fantasy, Fairytale Retelling, Science Fiction

    “We can’t go back,” said Wolf. “It’s suicide.”

    To punctuate his words, a volley of bullets struck the doors, their loud clangs echoing down the corridor they were now trapped in.

    “We’re not leaving her.”

    “Thorne-” started Cinder.

    “No!” Wriggling one arm free, Thorne swung, but Wolf ducked. In half a heartbeat, Wolf had spun around and pinned Thorne to the wall, one enormous hand at Thorne’s throat.

    “She gave us this chance,” Wolf said. “Don’t waste it.”

    Winter, by Marissa Meyer, is the final installment in The Lunar Chronicles (aside from the novella that Meyer released, though it does not fall within the same timeline as the other four books). Although the reader is granted a closer look at Princess Winter and the struggles she faces, we also see Cinder, Cress, Thorn, Scarlet, Kai, Iko and everyone else we have grown to love throughout the series. Their plan to take out the evil queen (pun intended) is a daunting one, and they quickly realize that they are going to need a lot of help if they want their attempt to succeed.

    I want to take a minute to address the warnings I listed above before I get into the finer details of the story and writing style. This book is a great deal more violent than any of the others, as it is the actual climax of the story, and because Princess Winter has a mental illness brought on by things that are explained within the novel.

    The story doesn’t glorify violence, or make out her condition to be something inherently negative, and for those reasons, I deeply appreciate this book and the way in which Meyer wrote it. But I will say that it is certainly possible that younger readers would be frightened by some of the events, this time. It might be best to read these more slowly if your reader is of the early young adult age, perhaps by gifting them one a year or every few months or so.

    As for the rest of the novel, allow me to pick out a few points that I noticed along the way. First, characters within the main cast are flawed wonderfully, but Meyer clearly makes an effort to distinguish between the sorts of flaws that heroes can have. By that, I mean that characters learn to be heroes throughout, growing as people and acquiring qualities that allow them to succeed. Those who do not change, or who develop traits that directly, negatively affect others are going to find that their ways are not going to be rewarded.

    Second, several types of romance have been portrayed throughout this series, and all of that becomes quite clear when looking at the final installment. Nowhere will you find an abusive relationship in this story or one that you would not want your child glorifying in their mind. Safety, confidence, equality and acceptance are some of the key themes in the relationships, and I find that incredibly appealing. I have no doubt that a young adult audience would as well, and they are definitely the sorts of examples I would want to offer my son or daughter in the future.

    Another thing I recognized throughout the text was how much more realistic it is than other revolution-themed series. Some young adult series make it far too simple or give the impression that pretty much anything a hero does will succeed. In Winter, that is not the case, and it’s spectacular. The book is quite long – particularly in the paperback version I own – but it needs to be that way because the heroes come across a multitude of challenges and setbacks. Yet they stand firm in what they want to do, which is another quality that I appreciate about the cast of characters Meyer presents the reader with.

    The Lunar Chronicles are, far and away, my favorite series of all time. Genre aside, the themes explored are relevant to everyone – particularly with the frightening and dangerous times that we are now experiencing all over the world. I cannot explain how well I loved this series, except like this:

    If it weren’t for the essays I have due in a couple weeks, I would pick up Cinder and read the whole series all over again.

    Views: 5